Beauty of the Beast
by Talon Silverwolf
Summary: After being pushed off the Mayship by a mysterious woman in red, Dizzy is found by a man who looks eerily like Ky Kiske, but he isn't who he seems to be.
1. The Fall

"Dizzy!"

May's heart was beating wildly beneath her chest when she saw Dizzy pushed overboard by an intruder. She didn't even catch her name, but that didn't matter anyhow; she was gone too. A second after she saw her friend go overboard, an explosion erupted from within the ship, making young May struggle for balance, as well as the other girls around her. She quickly grabbed a hold of the railing to keep herself from winding up like her friend.

It was happening all too fast.

There was silence at first, the kind heard after an accident. May hated that sort of silence. It always meant something was terribly wrong. She turned her head towards Johnny who was standing nearby, staring in disbelief at nothing in particular. His mouth was hanging agape.

"Johnny, what was that?"

At her voice, he snapped himself out of it and turned to his head. Before he opened his mouth, the intercom answered that for him. "Johnny, one of the engines exploded!" April's voice was behind it.

This was bad. Very bad. May still couldn't figure out how the intruder---a musician in red---got onto the Mayship. She almost felt responsible, but then again, it happened so fast though, like the musician in red had everything planned.

"Get this thing landed!" Johnny barked.

"But Johnny," May protested. "What about Dizzy?"

"I know, May, but we need to land first. She couldn't have fallen far. But that was a pretty long fall." He scratched at the back of his head, tilting his hat forward over his brows as he did so.

"I just hope she's okay," May said. _And alive_, she said to herself.

"We'll all go looking for her after we land," Johnny said. "Have some faith, May."

"I am, I am!" she quickly said. She looked off into the clouds, hoping for some childish reason she would see Dizzy, but no, she knew she was on the ground, hurt. She had to be realistic. She fell a couple thousand feet, and even for a Gear like Dizzy, something was going to get hurt.

* * *

She tried again to pick herself up. This time she was able to keep herself on her feet, but the pain was unbearable. She took in a deep breath, trying not let the pain get the best of her. Although, if she wanted to be found by the pirates, she had to get moving, even if her leg cooperated or not. She slowly reached out and took a hold of a branch before she began to step forward, stepping carefully and slowly. She bit down on her lower lip as she moved, and eventually, it began to work. She constantly grabbed onto the trees near her for balance.

Tree by tree, branch by branch, she moved down a narrow path.

As she limped on, she could hear the sound of a trickling stream. It was a beautiful sound to Dizzy's ears. The sounds it made formed harmony into her heart, and even began to make her forget about the pain in her leg. It reminded her of the grove where she came from. Whenever the pirates landed, she always went in search of the nearest forest to explore.

But this forest was cold. There was a bed of dead leaves littering the ground, and all the trees were bare with their twisted, ancient branches reaching for the heavens, as if seeking a salvation from the unforgiving ambient. The fauna wasn't the same as the grove, either. She could hear unseen crows calling from the trees and howls of creatures she never heard before. One even sounded like screeching laughter. It was like walking through a ghost forest. She felt like there were beings following her. But it was only shadows—right?

As she looked over her shoulder, the toe of her boot caught an exposed root, and sent her into the ground. She gasped in pain as her body collided into the cold ground. After she landed, she swore she heard something or someone laughing. Or was that the stream?

That's right, the stream. Follow the stream. Maybe she could follow it until she found a safe place. She cautiously picked herself up and limped towards the sound. She was more cautious this time, watching where she stepped before she could fall again.

She limped her weak body along until she finally saw the quaint stream a short distance away. A sigh of relief escaped her lips. She slowly and carefully limped to the bank of the rushing stream. Frost coated the edge of it, showing her how cold it really was. She supposed the pain in her body made her ignore the bitterness in the air.

She followed the bank, waiting for some sort of salvation to come to her. But something did come across her way. A tiny wooden bridge. And bridge meant people. But were these good people?

Well, she would have to find out. With that bridge, she also saw smoke in the air. That put even more caution to the wind. She was growing more nervous by the minute as she approached the weather-beaten bridge. She grabbed the railing, and stared ahead. There were people here, clear evidence of it. In the short distance was a small wooden cabin---and even closer was a man in black. Their eyes quickly met, and the man went on edge, jolting at her presence. He was wearing a long black coat and had dark red hair. He was carrying an arm full of wood, but when he saw her, he dropped them to the ground. He stared in shock, and that expression brought sadness to her heart. She knew that look.

_A human_! Necro, howled into her ear. _Kill him, kill him_!

* * *

_It's going to snow_, he said to himself as he added another log to the fireplace. He stared a long moment at the growing fire in front of him. The fire was beautiful and welcoming this time, but there was a time when he could barely stand to see it. He recalled it wasn't long ago that he would cringe and flinch at the sight of just the tiniest flame, nearly to the point of panic. It brought memories, bad memories he wanted to forget.

_"Get out, beast! Get out!"_

He closed his eyes, trying to block out the images in his head. He wanted to see darkness, nothing more. No more humans. No more hatred. No more blood.

He closed his eyes until he remembered it was just him here; him and his horse, Nora, who he inherited from a blind man. She was the only company he had, otherwise he may have gone stir crazy, and that was the least he wanted. An insane man like him in the forest was a bad idea.

But he had control. He had complete control now.

He breathed in the air deeply, catching the scent of the burning logs in his nose.

_"Monster!"_

He exhaled, then opened his eyes to the fireplace. _If it's going to snow, _he said to himself, _I better get more logs in here before it's too late. I can't tell how bad it's going to be. It might be a blizzard for all I know._

He moved to the door and met the chilly air outside. He could smell it, it surely was going to snow, at least by the middle of the night. Earlier maybe. He never liked the snow. What animal did?

He started towards the side of his cabin, and whistled. "Nora, 'ere girl." He looked around the side of the cabin and saw his mare lift her head up to him, her ears flickering. He gave a gentle smile as the mare made her way to him, breathing cold frost as she approached him.

Ky put his hand into her mane as she came up to him. "Ah, it's cold out 'ere, isn't it? Come on." He passed the mare's side, leading her up to her small single stable that was nestled a few paces away. "Inside," he said to her in his thick French accent. "Inside." He pulled the door open and held it as the mare slowly stepped in obediently.

It was like she knew everything what he wanted. There were times he wondered if she understood human speech, even his. He sometime spoke in French to her, and maybe there were times she understood him then, too.

He closed the door to her stable after she was securely inside, and trekked back to the small cabin. He gathered an arm full of already chopped wood laying nearby and brought them inside, setting them near the burning fireplace, then returned to the pile for another stack.

As he took more from the pile, he noticed something at the corner of his eye. Something that didn't belong here. He turned his head to the bridge and saw someone coming. They crossed the old wooden bridge slowly.

He then dropped the logs in his arms as he looked more closely at the figure crossing the bridge. She had wings and a tail. She was clearly a Gear. He could sense it. The Gear in him could sense it. He stared hard at her, barely able to take his eyes off her.

He hadn't seen a Gear in so long. It was a stunning thing to see after so long. They stared at each other for several intense moments, while the female clung to the edge of the bridge. Ky's tense body loosened a bit the longer they looked at each other.

Something didn't seem right about her.

He carefully stepped towards her, and then—

"I'm sorry," she whimpered.

"I'm sorry?" he asked with a tilt of his head.

Her dark wing then arched over her head, revealing for a brief moment a cloaked figure,

but he couldn't make up what it was. The Gear then charged forward, and swung her arm at him, suddenly encased in armor and nails. He dashed to the side out of the way, but somehow managed to trip on his own feet.

Oh how graceful.

He landed right on his backside, staring up at the female Gear before him. "No, wait," he said. "What are you doing? Stop!" He scurried to his feet, and took a quick step back just as something erupted from the ground. A giant shard of ice. His eyes went wide as he stared at it. It was right in front of his nose. If he hadn't moved then, he might have been. . . .

Ky looked over to the female Gear to see her hold her head and gasp. An old instinct told him to look down, a ghost voice, and when he did, he saw the ground beneath his feet beginning to open up as if hell were trying to swallow him. He jumped back just in time, landing on his heels, but the leaves under his boots made him slip again. His feet went out from under him and sent him tumbling down towards the bank of the stream. Thankfully, though, he caught himself.

He looked up at the female Gear again, his fingers dug into the half frozen ground. He watched how her legs wobbled and forced her to collapse to her knees. She sat there, swaying a bit, holding the side of her head.

There was peace for a moment, allowing him to get a slight grip on himself. He stayed there on the ground, lifting himself up by his arms and leaned on his hip to take a closer look at the attacking Gear. She didn't move or show any sign of any readiness to attack him again. All seemed clear.

He slowly got to his feet, then cautiously made his way up to the fallen Gear. "M-madamoiselle?" He could see goosebumps on her exposed skin. She had to be freezing in the outfit she was wearing. Absolutely freezing. The cropped jacket and black bikini she was wearing had no cold weather protection what-so-ever. What was she doing in that around here anyway?

"I'm...I'm s-sorry," she stammered as she shivered, keeping her arms tightly crossed against her chest. At least she had some coverage on her arms.

He didn't take his eyes off her. He watched as she lifted her head and met her soft red eyes with his. He never saw such eyes on a Gear before. They almost seemed human. "Where did you come from? Did somebody send you?"

"No," she said. "I'm sorry I attacked you. I'm lost."

"Why did you attack me?"

"I got scared," she said.

"You scared me too," he said, and forced a weak grin. "You're not going to attack me again, are you?"

"No," she said.

"Then let me help you up." He held his hand to her, but instead of taking his hand, she stared at it, and he had a feeling he knew exactly what she was staring at.

_Don't stare at the scar. Don't stare at the scar. Just take my hand, that all I want you to do._

She finally took his hand gently, but when he pulled her to her feet, she gasped as she stood, and stumbled into him. He caught her as she went into his chest.

"What's wrong?"

"My leg hurts."

He forced his eyes to look down on her, down to her legs. There were several bruises and scratches on her.

"Here, sit down a moment." He wrapped one of her arms around his shoulder as he aided her to sit down on the ground. Nervously, he touched his hands down to her thigh, down to her lower leg. That was when he felt the break. "Your leg's broken."

"It is?"

He nodded slowly. "I'm afraid so. Listen, I live in that cabin there," he said, pointing. "I normally wouldn't say this, but if you come in, I can set it for you. I can't let you walk around on the broken leg or you're going to damage further."

"If you're a nice person," she said.

He found himself to look into her soft eyes again. "I'd like to think I am. Now. Will you?" He offered his hand to her again. She nodded, and took his offer again. He carefully lead her to the inside of the cabin, making sure he walked slowly with a pace she could keep up with, his arm wrapped around her while she put her weight into his side. The walk to the front door seemed longer than it should have been. His mind was a jumble of what to say to her. It had been too long since he had a conversation with anyone.

"Just take it slow," he said. "Don't worry about anyone else. I'm the only one around here. There isn't anyone for miles." He finally reached for the door then and led her inside the warm and dim room. The fireplace was the only source of light. He caught her looking around at the corner of his eye, taking in the sight of the den. It was an orderly but bland place, yet it had a bit of class, much like its new owner. A small couch was pressed up against the wall on the left, while a stuffed chair was nestled near the fireplace. A short coffee table was set beside it. Above the fireplace, a long wrapped object was hung like a hunter's trophy, but what laid under it was no longer a trophy.

"You have a nice place. How long have you been here?"

"A few years. It was passed down to me by a stranger, actually." He felt her stumble forward, and quickly grabbed a hold of her waist and brought her back to him before she could hit the floor. "Stay still. Here, here, why don't you sit down?" He gestured a hand to the fireplace and carefully led her there. He held her by the shoulders as he allowed her to sit down. "Careful. Don't put any weight on that leg."

She sat with no more surprises or falls. Once she was down, he released his hands from her body and stood up again. He placed his fist by his mouth as he looked down on her, studying her.

"Now I think I need to find a splint for your leg after I set it," he said, and glanced left and right, searching for something stiff, like a piece of wood that would be able to hold her leg. He spotted a broom near the open kitchen, but did he really want to sacrifice it?

"Have you done this before?" the Gear asked.

He turned his head back to her. "No." He turned then, heading out the door and back into the cold air. If he wasn't going to sacrifice his broom, then something better would have to do, something he could use without really missing it. He licked his lips in thought as he looked around himself, then trekked back over to the wood pile. Of course he could find something here. His eyes searched the ground by the pile, and just as he expected, a broken branch was laying there. He picked it up and examined it.

It would have to do.

He lowered it to the ground and stomped on the center of it, breaking it in half. It left no dangerous splinters that would hurt the Gear if it pressed into her flesh. Besides, who heard of a piece of wood hurting a Gear? He had lived with them most his life. He knew they were hearty, but this one seemed different. Very different.

He headed back into the cabin and dropped the two pieces by her. "I'll be right back." He felt her eyes on him as he walked past her without looking at her and straight into his bedroom. He knelt down by the side of his bed, and pulled out a neatly folded sheet from under it that had been tucked away. With it in hand, he then stood up and lifted his pillow to reveal a dagger laying under it.

Sometimes, old habits die hard.

He then returned to the Gear, who watched every move he made. He noticed her eye the dagger especially hard. He unfolded the sheet, letting the air unravel it. The Gear still didn't take her eyes off him. He slit a hole into the sheet and began tearing them into strips, until he had three sections of them torn out.

"Do you know what you're doing?" the Gear asked him.

He knelt down in front of her. "Not really. But it can't be that hard. Right?" He lifted his head and watched how she stared at him. She looked like she was close to running for the door by the look on her face. He couldn't help but grin. "Do you trust me?"

"I really don't know you, but—"

"Do you trust me?"

Her eyes wandered as if searching for an answer. He didn't blame her, thought, he didn't even trust himself.

"Yes," she then said slowly. "If you can fix my leg, then I trust you."

He passed her a reassuring grin, one of his famous fake grins he could trick anyone with, then scooted closer to her. He nearly saw her muscles tense from under her skin as he moved closer. He began to reach for her leg, but then paused and looked up at her again. "You're not going to attack me again if I do hurt you, are you?"

She shook her head.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded.

He sighed, hoping what she said was true. He knew how snappy Gears could get when they were in pain. He had been bitten by a few in his younger years, Gears that had been apart of his band, his family. But then again, this one. . . .

He slowly reached out and placed a hand upon her knee. Just as he began to move it down to her shin where the break was placed, he paused and looked up at her. "Listen, if you do feel that you may lash out at me," he said, then passed her the remains of the sheet. "Hold onto that. I'm not sure how much you can tolerate pain."

"Okay." She wrapped her hands around the sheet like a child would a favorite teddy bear.

He looked down on her leg again, struggling to keep his eyes solely on that leg. He placed his hands around her calf, and let his fingers feel for the break on her shinbone. Once he felt it, he pressed both hands on the bone and began pressing on it, then pulled and pushed again. He tried not to look at the Gear as she gasped and cried out in pain. He felt her begin to pull away, but he only tightened his grip around her leg. "Just hang on," he said as he worked. "If you cooperate, this won't take long. Ah, I don't believe I got your name."

"D-Dizzy," she whimpered.

"Dizzy," he repeated, with his accent adding more charm to the name. "I'm Ky." He pressed on her leg, and then finally felt the bone slip into place. "Stay still, Dizzy, stay still. I think I got it." She moaned as he ran his hand along her smooth shin, covered by her thigh-high stocking. It shined against the reflection of the flames nearby. "Yes, I think I did." He then turned his head and reached for the sticks behind him. "Are you alright, Dizzy?"

It took her a while to answer behind her sobs and whimpers. "Umm. . .y-yeah. Are you done?"

"Almost." He braced both sticks against her leg, one against the back of her knee, then began to wrap them tightly. "You've been doing very good. How did you break it in the first place?"

"I fell."

"I see. Well, it didn't seem too bad. Thank you for not trying to attack me. You did well." He slowly lifted his head up and found her once again staring at him.

_You know why she's looking at you like that, don't you? _he told himself. _She's staring at your eyes, like everyone else. Soon she's going to ask questions. _He looked across from under his brows. "Dizzy, I've noticed you've been staring at me oddly. Is there something you—"

"I've seen you before," she suddenly said.

That took him back. He sat back with his knees up and eyed her carefully.

_You know what she means. She thinks you're _him.

"What?"

"Your face looks so familiar," she said. "I swear I've seen you before."

"No," he said. "I think it's just a coincidence. We haven't seen each other before." He stood up then. "I suggest you rest for now. Were you alone when you broke your leg?"

"I am now," she said. "But my friends should come looking for me soon."

He barely heard her, as if he was drowning everything else out. He strode away from her slowly, towards the window with his arms crossed. _What if she did meet him before? What if she knows him? _

_Then we have a problem. _


	2. Sit, Good Gear

The air was hot. The sky faded into an orange hue, setting the horizon on fire. It was the most prettiest sunset Ky had ever seen in his life, but his attention wasn't on the beauty of the sky, it was the beauty of the coming destruction of the village below the stars. The whole village was asleep, not a care in this war-torn world, but they were going to wake up to reality; the reality that Gears were roaming

and killing humans. And they were going to be a part of it, just like everyone else.

The army moved in closer, with him flanked by the Gears. He had been trained by the Gears—and rogue men—and he was now deemed worthy to be called a part of their band, although only a portion of his blood was theirs, the rest was human. He didn't want to be human, though. He couldn't stand them. He couldn't even stand their smell. It was like that hatred had been bred into him.

The Gears quickly approached the sleeping village, then at the right moment, they charged in. There were ambushers and then there were the attackers; he was one of the attackers tonight, a rare privilege. With his sword gripped firmly in his hand, he waited for the chaos to unfold. And it did, under a few moments. As the ambushing Gears broke into the quiet little homes of the villagers, there were screaming, shattering glass, and the sound of struggling bodies---fragile human bodies.

Ky moved down the dirt street, feeling the 90 degree heat on his heavily clothed body. He hunted with the Gears for humans to fall into his blade, and one did. A door flung open with a woman's voice calling as a young boy---a teenager---flew out, trying to save his own miserable life.

Ky swung around as he saw him leap out, and thrust his sword into his flesh, impaling it right into his torso. He heard him yelp a weak scream, but it was cut short as Ky pulled back on the sword and let the boy to fall into the ground, right outside his door.

"Danny, don't go out there! Danny!" The mother came running for her fallen child, unaware that he was already dead. Ky took advantage of the situation and swung his blade, slashing right into her throat, splattering blood on the walls and ground.

Ky moved on in search of more human blood to shed under his blade. He listened to the villagers' screams of agony and fear, all the while he relished all of it. His dark flowing Holy Knight's uniform and smooth slashes of his sword gave him elegance and grace with his murders, unlike the Gears. Their killing method were barbaric and savage, while his style was graceful. He even found a few humans rushing to him, thinking he was their savior, but once they neared, their faces turned into horror.

He was mainly used as a decoy in these massacres. He was one of the few humanoid fighters the Gears had, and he was useful to them. Very useful, certainly with the face of a young leader— A very important leader.

The murders went on with the sky above fully engulfed in stars and darkness. The sun was gone, as if it were hiding from witnessing the madness inside the village. Humans were begging for their lives, screaming in fear.

He moved off to another house, and gave a hard kick to the front door. The lock of it broke, allowing him into the seemingly empty house. But he knew better. They were just hiding.

He paced to the front room, with the bottom of his boots thumping against the hard wood floor, clearly announcing his presence. The room was dark, but faintly lit by a low burning lantern on a table.

They were still here.

He walked off into the bedrooms and checked under the beds, in the closets, but found nothing. He carefully looked around, and returned to the den. He knew they were around. They were hiding. But where? Some humans were clever, and had cellars to hide in, but an even more clever hybrid like him could always flush them out.

Past the screaming outside, he picked up the sound of murmurs. And it was below the floors.

He heard a child's voice then. As he turned his head, the floor opened up. Oh what clever people; they had a storm cellar in their den, and their child just gave them away.

A little girl, possibly five years old, screamed at the sight of him and ran up to him. "A Knight! A Knight! I want to get out of here. I want to get out of here!" Ky bent down and caught the child as she ran to him. "Make the monsters go away!"

Ky put his sword down and wrapped his arms around the crying child. He then put his hands to her head, giving the impression he was just going to comfort her, but instead, he snapped her neck with a quick twist. The child didn't struggle at all, and fell limp onto the floor in a dull thud.

Nearby, her parents screamed after they witnessed the murder of their child. "Mary-lin!"

Ky slowly reached for his sword as the father charged at him, more interested in getting his dead daughter away from him than attacking him. But he wasn't going to take the risk. He grabbed the man by the shirt and threw him across the room, right into the table with the burning lantern. The table collapsed from under his weight, sending everything on the table crashing to the floor. The lantern on the table broke, sending fuel and flames spilling onto the floor. Meanwhile, the mother of the dead child screamed.

Flames were quickly starting to reach up to the wall and began to engulf the floor. He had to get out of here quick before the whole house went up, but he had to deal with—

The instant he turned his head towards the mother, she swung something hot at his face. Ky screamed in pain and stumbled back as it hit him. He caught himself by the wall and looked across at the woman, a hand by his face. She threw the object that she hit him with---a burning leg of the broken table---which missed him by an inch and hit the wall beside his head. "Get out of my house!" she screamed as she threw it at him. "You killed my family! You're not going to get me!"

He bared his teeth at her, then charged, swinging his sword. The woman dove out of the way and fell at the same time. While she grabbed another piece of the burning table, he spun around for another attack. The woman got back to her feet quickly and waved the burning object in front of his face. He wheeled back, holding his hands out to protect himself, feeling the heat on his face.

"Get out of my house! Get out!" She swung the flames at his face, while he tried to shield himself with his hands, backing him between the wall and the couch. She shoved the flames at his face, coming in contract with his skin once again. He screamed and stumbled to the side, falling into the couch.

But the woman wasn't going to stop there. She chased him with her makeshift weapon as he tried to crawl away from her. He fell back onto the floor as he met up to the end of the couch, with the woman still on him. He screamed in pain as she whipped the flames into his face again.

"You're not so tough now! Ha!" She kicked him across the ribs. She swung the burning piece of wood at his head, which he ducked. He crawled back to his feet, trying to escape her wrath. As he passed her, she swung the flames onto his sleeve, catching it on fire. He didn't notice it at first, but the pain soon came. He thrust his arm up and down and patted at it, trying to put it out. The flames were eating away at his gauntlet and sleeve. He stumbled backwards, and tripped over the dead child's body while he was distracted with the flames. He fell to the floor with hot flames around him. He scratched at the flames on his arm, frantically putting it out.

"You demon from hell!" the woman screamed as she advanced on him. "Get out of here!"

Ky finally managed to pat the flames out, which had eaten away at his sleeve. He bared his teeth at the pain against his skin, the worst kind of pain he had felt in a long time.

Intense heat then began to touch his leg, making him jerk his head towards the flames lurching from the floor. He pulled his leg away and turned his head back towards his attacker. She was advancing towards him with that burning piece of wood in her hand.

"Go back where you came from!" the woman screamed at him. "Go back to hell!"

Half blinded, he grabbed her arm and shoved her back. With one arm outstretched, he began searching for a way out. He stumbled to the left, keeping one arm out, feeling the heat of the flames fading from him until he tripped out of the burning house. He fell to the ground on his knees, holding a hand to his face. He laid there for a few seconds, listening to the chaos around him, then forced himself up.

He stumbled a few paces away from the house, then felt himself bump into something. He went to his knees again, keeping his eyes closed and one hand over his hot and stinging face. He could smell the scent of his own burning flesh and clothing. What he fell into was a person's arms.

"Oh God," he heard a man say while he was in his arms. "We've got a man down here!"

He struggled a bit, trying to get a better view of the area with one good eye. He could see dead Gears on the ground, and Holy Knights of the Order.

Damn it, the Order's army had found out about the attack. He didn't know they were in the area. How did this happen? It wasn't suppose to be this way. The Gears were supposed to destroy this place, not be destroyed.

"Somebody get down here, quick! He's been burned!"

"No," Ky groaned, then shoved the man off before he could get a good look at his face, and stumbled to his feet. He bolted off, half blind and in pain. He had to get away from this place before the Holy Knights find out he had their leader's face. They would kill him. Kiske might even do it himself once he found out about him.

He struggled to clear his eyesight as he ran. He stumbled and swayed while tears ran from his stinging eyes. His smoke filled lungs ached as he breathed, but he couldn't let anything stop him. They were going to kill him! They were going to—

* * *

Ky jolted awake, startled by a noise nearby. He looked around, finding himself in the safety of his cabin once again, not in the hells of his past. It seemed he always managed to find it in his dreams and nightmares every time he closed his eyes, like a message from God to remind him where he came from. Maybe a sinner like him needed that constant reminder.

He unfolded himself from the couch, and stretched his arms up over his head, knocking something off the arm of it in the process. He listened as it hit the floor in a feathery thump. As he looked down, he noticed his Bible laying on the floor, which had landed with its pages flared open against the floor. Quickly he reached down and picked it up. He examined it for any damage. A few pages had suffered a few creases, nothing serious. If he put something heavy over it, maybe it would straighten itself out.

He stood up, and carried the book back to the coffee table where he normally kept it. He pressed his hand down on it, and then same noise that woke him, although quieter this time, sounded from his bedroom. And then it clicked.

Oh yes, his guest.

Ky turned his head towards the short hallway that led the way to his room and quickly walked to it, where he found Dizzy holding up the black capelette of his old Sacred Order uniform. The sight of it nearly burned his eyes. He hadn't touched the thing in a long time, and had stored it away since he had settled in the cabin, never wanting to see it again. He had even been contemplating on destroying it, but never brought himself to do it. Out of sight and out of mind worked just as well, until now, until Dizzy dug up its grave. He bit his lower lip as he saw the skirt and belts laying on his bed.

He leaned an arm against the threshold of the door as he glared at her. "What are you doing?"

Caught in the act, Dizzy quickly jerked her head to see him at the doorway. She gasped as she saw him and pressed the black and gold cape against her chest. He could hear the metal under the shoulders clicking as she brought it closer. "Umm, I was—"

"Snooping," he said.

"No, I wasn't snooping!"

"Yes you were," he said.

Knowing there was no way out of it, she lowered her head and looked down on the uniform in her arms. "Sorry, I didn't mean to. I was curious. You have very interesting things."

He couldn't help but smile and begin to forgive her, but not fully. "I would appreciate it if you put _that _back where it came from," he said, pointing to the uniform. "I put it away for a reason."

"Sorry." She reached back and picked up the pieces she had on the bed up and began to limp towards the shallow wooden case that she had pulled out from under the bed. He watched a few moments how she used the foot of the bed as a guide, then remembered—

"No, wait," he said, and stepped towards her. "Let me do it. Besides, you're supposed to be resting." He took the uniform from her arms and turned, beginning to take a step towards the case. But he immediately stopped in his tracks once he cast his eyes onto the clothing in his arms. Bad choice. He stared down on it, remembering the very last time he put his hands on it, the day he would try to bury that past that always came back to haunt him, a part of it looming under him at night. He thought it would be a first step, but it didn't seem to be good enough. He just couldn't forget it. He should have buried the damn thing.

He folded the skirt first, then neatly placed it in the center of the case, then put the belts and gauntlets in their respected places. He stared down on the uniform as he put it away, almost with hesitation. He slid his slender fingers onto the top of the case, his palms balancing on the edges as he looked down on the uniform, as if it were trying to call him back, its lies tempting him back.

"Ky? Is there something wrong?"

He suddenly snapped himself out of it, tearing his eyes away from the uniform and up where they met Dizzy's form. "What?"

"Is something wrong? You looked—"

He shook his head. "I'm fine, I'm fine. I was just—thinking, that's all."

"I wasn't supposed to touch it," she said in a guilty, child-like manner. "I won't do it again."

He slid the box under the bed again, seeing that a few more things had been moved, but that didn't matter as much as that forbidden uniform. He then slowly picked himself up into a stand. "Thank you," he muttered as he began to walk past her, not even looking at her anymore.

"Umm, Ky?"

He ignored her. He felt deaf to anything she said, as if she wasn't even there—as if he wasn't even there. He walked slowly back into the den, where he dropped his body into the chair by the fireplace, his body falling limp against it. He sat there, staring dully at the wall. His mind felt numb, felt dead.

"Ky. I have seen you before. I remembered when I saw your uniform. I've seen it before."

"I told you before, we've never met before," he growled, and stood. "I am not who you think I am." He then began to advance towards her. "Let me tell you one thing. I—"

"Sit back down," Dizzy said to him, and by his surprise, he did. He dropped himself back into the chair without even thinking. It was like his body obeyed what she said to him, like a dog.

"What did you just—"

"Don't scare me like that, " she said, her body half recoiled against the wall.

He stared at her, but not like he had a few moments ago. The anger had been washed away, replaced by a stunned wonderment. It was as if it had never been there. He had already forgotten that she had mistaken him for Ky Kiske. Kiske suddenly didn't exist in his mind anymore. It was just her.

"Do that again," he said.

She seemed to be taken back by the request. "Do what again?"

"Tell me to do something."

She shook her head. "I don't understand."

"Tell me to do something. Anything."

"I-I don't know. I still don't understand what you want, but—" she hesitated, but finally said with a shrug, "Stand on one leg."

He obeyed, lifting one leg then settled it back down, even though he could have easily done it himself. "Come on, try something different. Tell me something I wouldn't do by my free will."

"No. What are you doing? You're acting strange."

Apparently, she wasn't going to cooperate. "Nevermind. Forget I asked." He threw his hands into the air in defeat, and turned, heading for the door. If she wasn't going to cooperate, then he wasn't either.

"Wait." she called after him.

He suddenly stopped in his tracks at the sound of her voice, just as he was about to reach the door. It looked like he was halting himself from stepping on something in his path, like a coiled snake ready to strike him, but nothing was there. He looked down on his immobile feet, then over his bared shoulder at Dizzy. It was beginning to make sense.

"You're not going to leave, are you?" she asked him, unaware what was going on.

"No." He slowly turned around and strode back over to the chair, dropping himself back into it. He leaned his elbow on the arm of it and rested his hand under his chin as he watched her from across. "I had a feeling about this, and I think you just proved it." He leaned forward and crossed his legs. "You're a commander."

"What?"

"Don't tell me you didn't know you're a commander Gear."

She stared at him as if he were crazy. She slowly shook her head.

"You're serious," he said, cocking his brows a bit. What Gear didn't know what they were able to possess, certainly a commander? She had the ability to command any Gear and control their will and she didn't even know it? A grin crossed his lips as he looked across at her. "Well, if you didn't know it then, know it now. You have complete control over me, and over any other Gear."

"Over you? But you're not a—"

He raised a slender finger to silence her. "I'm afraid you're wrong again. I am. Only a quarter, but that's another story." He grinned more widely then. "But I will tell you why I look like the man you think I am."


	3. The Black Forest

He told her everything. Well, not everything; most of his past, he would take to the grave with him. There was far too much sin in his past hecouldn't reveal to such an innocent Gear like Dizzy. For now, he would pretend all he committed during the Crusades was the murder of human life.

While he paced the floors with his arms crossed, telling his tales, Dizzy sat in the chair, listening intently. "So, after that night, I went on my own. I'm no longer ashamed of what I did. I could say now that decision freed me. I did my best to stay away from human civilization. I wouldn't go near anyone, but then again, the uniform I was wearing was bound to attract attention. It was about two years after the incident when I found this place." He paused and gestured a hand to the air. "It was in the winter like this when I came across it. I was desperate but still wary of people, so I watched the place from a distance, making sure it wasn't vacant."

"So you've lived here by yourself ever since," Dizzy said.

"Not quite," he said, pointing a finger up before he began pacing slowly again. "I lived here for at least a year more before the owner came back." He paused a moment to look out the window over his shoulder. "I saw him crossing the bridge on horseback But I found out that this man was blind.I explained myself to him, and after I told him my story, he welcomed me to stay with him in the cabin."

"Did you tell him you were a Gear?"

"No. I don't think he would have believed me anyway. He was a retired priest, believe it or not. He even gave me that book there." He pointed to the black Bible laying on the small stand beside her. "When I did finally confess a few secrets, he forgave me. I was surprised he didn't command me to leave. He gave me a new path on life. I forgot it all and the past I left behind and hid the evidence I had as a fraud.." He then glanced up at the wrapped object above the mantle.

"So that's why you got so upset when I found your uniform."

He nodded. "I haven't touched it since I put it there and I never planned to. I should have destroyed it. It's still not too late, I suppose."

"I'm sorry I touched it."

He waved her off. "I forgive you for your trespasses, Dizzy. You no longer have to worry."

She bit down on her lower lip in a guilty way, looking up at him from under her azure brows. It was still hard to believe that such a child-like creature as herself could be a commander Gear. It was almost hard to believe she was even a Gear. She seemed too human, just a girl trapped in a Gear's body.

"You can go on," she said after his pause while he looked upon that face.

Ky shook his head after finding he was staring at her. She had pretty eyes, soft red eyes, nothing like his. She wondered why she could look into his.

He laughed lightly, and scratched at his hair. "Ah, right, right. Where was I?"

"What happened to the old blind man?"she asked.

"Oh. He died. He knew he was dying. That's why he came back to his cabin. I've been alone since. Well, not completely alone. There's Nora, his horse. I'm amazed by her. Most animals can sense the Gear in me, so they turn tail or try to attack me. Nora was the same way the first year, but she follows me everywhere now. She's my only companion."

He watched how she smiled. "May I see her?"

"Now? Dizzy, don't forget your leg. Perhaps later. But—I do need to feed her. Perhaps I could bring her to the door so you can see her, that is if you are careful on that leg."

"Could you do that?" she said with a big grin on her face, her hands clasped together like a delighted child.

He grinned at her. Commander Gear indeed. She was no Justice. "I suppose I could.

"I will," she quickly said. "I've been able to get around on my own fairly well. Do you want me to show you?"

"No, no, please, stay down. I don't want to set that leg again, and I'm sure you don't, either."

She shook her head quickly.

"I thought so. So, just take it easy."He turned his head to the door and began to take a step forward, but caught himself. He reminded himself he did need to feed Nora and let her out, but he didn't want to encourage Dizzy. He looked back at her. "Dizzy, yesterday you mentioned you were alone. But are there others?"

"I was with my friends when I fell."

"Gears?"

"No. But I want to find my friends later. Can you help me?"

He lowered his eyes to the floor and took in a deep breath and quickly let it out. He didn't want to let her go, he wanted to keep her like a newly found treasure, in which she was to him. "I suppose so," he slowly said, forcing the word out.

He sat there a long moment, with his head down, staring down on the floor, until they slowly wandered up to her shoes nearby. He had to say something soon, otherwise she was going to suspect something was wrong, and then she was going to start asking questions again, questions that could lead to him telling the truth.

"So," he slowly said, "tell me about the Grove."

* * *

Something was strange about this place. She couldn't place it, but something was in the air. She narrowed her eyes as she looked into the forest only a few feet from the opening where the pirates had landed. It was a tricky landing, according to April, and the marks on the grass behind the ship proved that. The ship's nose was just a few feet from hitting the trees and colliding right into the forest.

There was something about the forest she didn't like. It looked like something evil was looming from behind those trees, just waiting for them to step into it.

She frowned as she stared across into the abyss of the forest, then stuck out her tongue at it, just in case something was watching her.

"May, are you coming or not?"

She turned her head to the group waiting for her at the top of the steps. She looked at the group, then back at the forest.

"Yeah, yeah, it's just—this place gives me the creeps."

"I thought you wanted to come with us to look for Dizzy. You were the one who made it high priority."

"I know, and it is!" She closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to shake the feeling that forest had over her. A shiver rippled through her body before she managed to get her feet going and joined the group. "Okay, okay, let's go!"

Johnny laughed as she ran to them, and slowly stepped down the stairs down to solid ground. The flurries hadn't coated the ground yet, but a few flakes were already sticking to the grass. She folded her arms over her chest as she followed the others down—and to that forest. Another shiver ran through her body as she walked.

She felt her muscles tightening as she came closer to it, and watched the trees, as if waiting for them to start moving. But they never did, they just stood there like any other normal tree.

_It's just your imagination, _she said to herself as she walked past the first row, pulling her head back, watching them a little while longer. _See? Nothing happened. Just a bunch of stupid trees. _

"Okay," Johnny said as he led the way through the forest, "she's gotta be somewhere in this forest, but it's going to be hard to say exactly where. As long as we comb it thoroughly, we'll find her."

"Shouldn't we split up, Johnny?"

"No," he said. "But we could sprawl out a bit, just enough so we can see each other. We can cover just enough ground. We'll keep going unless the weather starts getting bad. Then we might have to turn back."

"I'm not going back even if it's a blizzard," May said.

"We'll see, May," he said, although it sounded like he was humoring her like he sometimes did. "Okay, girls, spread out and let's start looking."

At his command, the girls fanned out, each girl a few feet apart from the other, just enough so the one beside her could still see her shipmate. May tried to find a space by Johnny, but she managed to be on the far right side, the last in the line. She would have pushed her way in, but she had already had been forced into her spot. Finding Dizzy became much more important than being with the one she loved.

"Can everyone here me?" Johnny's voice called through the forest.

"Yes!" the girls called back. "Yeah, Johnny."

"Okay, then let's find our girl!"

And then, they began calling: "Dizzy! Dizzy!"

Their voices echoed through the forest, bound to be heard by anyone in ear shot. They spared a few seconds of silence to listen for her to respond, then called her name again and again.

May watched as the snow fell with each minute that passed. She turned her head up, squinting past the striped branches of the trees, trying to get view of the sky, but she couldn't see it. It was like the trees had covered it up on purpose, countless great hands shielding it as if it were a secret beyond it.

She kept her head tilted back, waiting to see some sort of opening, while a few cold snowflakes brushed up against her face, tickling her skin. It almost made her want to laugh, but this was either the time or place.

The trees seemed to become more eerier. Through the darkness they seemed to be glowing, their darkened bark standing out just like the snow falling to the ground. But then again, some trees looked dark and twisted. Some didn't even look like trees, some looked like statues of creatures standing erect, arms stretched out towards the sky, like a frozen warrior ready to bring its arms down on her, waiting to grab her.

She tried not to let her imagination get to her and concentrated on what they were here for. She brought her head forward again, making her path through the forest, the snow giving her enough light she needed. Not even moonlight pushed through.

And then, she noticed something. The forest had become silent, with the sound of her own footsteps the only noise in her ears. She couldn't hear the other girls walking with her, couldn't hear them calling for Dizzy, and most of all, she couldn't see July who had been beside her anymore. The moment she realized this, she stopped in her tracks and looked around herself.

"Hello?"

She listened and squinted past the dark, waiting to see her shipmates, but she saw nothing. Not a living thing.

"Guys? Johnny?"

She listened again. No one answered, but something did make a noise. It was probably an animal, but it sounded all too much like howling laughter. _"Hhaaaaaaa!" _It echoed through the entire forest. She gasped when she heard it and slapped her cold hands over her ears.

When she removed her hands, there was silence again. Her ears nearly ached to hear the voices of her shipmates, but just like before, there was nothing. Her chest began to ache, making her breathe hard. "I can't be lost here. I'm not lost." She turned her head over her shoulder. "I just got off track. If I turn around and backtracked, I can find them. Yeah, yeah. I'm not lost. I'm not lost." She did an about-face and began to walk where she came from. But the forest didn't look familiar. She could have sworn she was following her old tracks, but when she turned around and—

She looked down and didn't see her tracks, from behind or ahead. It was as if she just jumped into the snow from above and had never been walking in the first place. "Huh? Hang on, I just walked here." She turned herself around in a circle. Her new tracks stayed, but where did her old ones go?

She spun around and ran a few paces before he turned back around, only to see her footprints gone, as if she had never been there.

"What?" She knew this couldn't be happening. How was it even possible? She closed her eyes and shook her head before she took off screaming. "Johnny!"

She ran as fast as she could, frantically trying to find her way back to her group. She kept running, keeping her eyes out for any sign of them, waiting to see some sort of tree or mark that looked familiar, but there was none.

She kept running until she was out of breath. She finally stopped and put her hands on her knees, panting. Some of her hair fell into her eyes as she struggled for breath.

Slowly, she straightened her back and glanced around herself. The forest looked just like it did before. She couldn't bare to try to look behind her, in fear she would see her footprints gone again. "Johnny!" She listened, but no one answered. "Oh no," she whimpered and took a few more steps forward. "I knew this was a bad idea. Bad idea." She slowly walked on, hoping to find something.

Then, after a few strides, she saw something leaning against a tree. At first, it looked nothing more than garbage left behind, but as soon as she got closer to it, she noticed it was someone sitting against the tree, his body slightly slumped as if he were asleep. But who could sleep while it was this cold? He was wearing some sort of blue coat with armor on the shoulders, but it looked old. The metal on the armor didn't shine anymore. The closer she got to him, the more something didn't look right about him.

When she finally walked up to him, she noticed it wasn't a man, but a rotting corpse sitting against the tree while snow coated parts of its body. Its stiff and stretched skin was hanging off its face, its mouth hanging open in a silent scream. Its eyes were empty from having fallen out long ago. Its clothing had been eaten away, with its bones sticking out of the rips and tears. Its face stared at her with its empty sockets, as if it were watching her.

She then took off screaming. "SOMEBODY!"


	4. The Woman in Red

Ky was going to go through with it. He agreed to let Dizzy take the risk of breaking her leg again just so she could see Nora_. _She insisted, and he had no choice but to let her. God, it had been years since he had been so obedient to another Gear. But Dizzy actually made his subservience enjoyable. And now that subservience called for him to bring Nora to the door for her. There was some hesitation, but he had no choice because she said so. He would do it because it pleased her, too.

He waited out by the homemade stable as the mare ate, hugging his arms around his body to keep himself warm.

His prediction had been right last night. It snowed, but it was no blizzard, thank God. It had snowed at least an inch, covering the landscape in white from each twisted, naked tree to each blade of grass. It was nothing to fret about. He hoped it was the worst he was going to see this winter, but then again, it wasn't over. The winters here were never easy.

Nora snaked her head out of the comforts of her stable and nosed at his arm, leaving an residue of grain on the black fabric of his coat. He didn't notice it until he looked down after she let go of his coat. "That's disgusting." He brushed at his sleeve feverishly, trying to get it off the best he could. A neat-freak like him couldn't let something like that stay on his clothing all day.

After getting it cleaned off, he turned his head over his shoulder at the mare. "Come here, Nora. I have someone I want you to meet." He stepped forward, then paused, keeping his shoulder to the mare, using his body language to get her to follow him. "Come here." He watched over his shoulder as the mare cautiously lowered her head to the ground, sniffing at the snow before she stepped into the snow.

He started back towards the cabin, knowing the mare would follow him, as usual. But that's not exactly what the mare planned. He listened as her footsteps pounded through the snow, and she went flying past him, her tail held high and her neck arched. She kicked a few times, sending snow in the air as she went.

She galloped past the cabin, up to the bridge, where she lowered her head and nibbled at a top coating of the snow. He shook his head as he watched her, continuing his way to the front door. He could see Dizzy already there, the door cracked as she watched the mare like a stalking animal. Well, at least she didn't hurt herself getting to the door.

Once she saw him approaching, she opened the door a bit more, holding onto the frame for balance. "I thought you said she follows you everywhere," she said.

"Not this time," he muttered, and slid his hands into his pants pockets. He looked over his shoulder to the mare. He watched as she trotted towards him from behind. "Here she comes," Dizzy said. "Hello." The mare stopped a moment to touched her nose to his shoulder, then suddenly took off again, tearing through the snow.

Dizzy giggled. "Bye!" She then sighed as she looked down onto her leg and floor. "I wish my leg wasn't broken."

"I'm sure it will heal soon. Besides, you are a Gear. I know for a fact that Gears heal incredibly fast." He pointed a finger in a matter-of-fact way.

"How long did it take for your burns to heal?" she then asked.

He ducked his head at her question, and glanced down on his hand by the side of his thigh. He bunched his fist as if trying to hide that scar that still remained on his hand and arm after all these years. "I don't remember. Maybe a few weeks before the scars turned up. But you're more Gear than I am, keep that in mind. I think you're already making progress. You insist being on your feet." He looked at her from under his brows, scolding her silently.

She grinned shyly and ducked her head lightly at his look. "That's a good thing, isn't it?"

"I suppose. But you can't keep on your feet. Come on, you've already seen Nora. Go back inside, please."

Disappointed, she lowered her head and pouted like a child. "Could I stay out a little longer? I could sit out front here."

Was that another order disguised as a kind request? His simple Gear brain made it out to be. "Well, I guess you—"

He watched as her gazed was suddenly fixed upon something past his shoulder. Her eyes were wide and her mouth hung open. Even her skin looked paler. Something felt wrong, and he had no doubt that the sensation was coming from her.

"Dizzy, what's—" He looked over his shoulder to see someone in red approaching. He watched her a moment, a woman in a strange red outfit. She wore a tall pointed hat, while tall leather red boots climbed up her legs up to her upper thighs. Her outfit looked like a mix of a mutilated jacket and a skirt—that lead nothing to the imagination. She was also carrying something, an instrument it seemed, but then after she stopped on the bridge, placing a hand on the railing as she looked towards them.

Ky turned his head back to Dizzy. "One of your friends?"

"No!" Dizzy immediately said, and ducked into the cabin, slamming the door shut. Ky was left outside, dumbfounded by her behavior, but soon, after noticing she had left him alone out there with that woman, Dizzy appeared at the door again. She grabbed him by the chest of his coat and yanked him inside surprisingly hard. He stumbled inside after she let go of him and closed the door.

After getting his feet again, he slowly turned his head. "Dizzy, what's the matter?"

She had her back to the door, leaning on it, as if bracing it. "That's the woman who pushed me!"

"Pushed you? I thought you fell."

"She pushed me _and_ I fell," she said to him.

He narrowed his eyes then. "That's something you didn't tell me."

"I didn't think she would follow me."

He narrowed his eyes as he watched her, how she stood against the door, her hands bunched to her chest. He not only saw her fear, he _felt _it. "Is she after you? Did she attack you because you're a Gear?"

She nodded timidly.

He felt a low growl rumble within his throat then.

That rage. That rage he began to feel earlier hit him, and it hit him fast. But this time, it was for a cause. He hadn't felt it in so long, but it was instinctive and so were his actions. He barely gave any thought, and as soon as he knew it, his body was acting. He went straight for the mantle, and grabbed the white object above it, going on his toes to reach it. He immediately began to unwrap it, swinging it in a circle after he freed the end. The cloth unraveled, exposing a long red blade, then an odd black and red diamond-shaped core, then a long handle and a forked hilt. After years of shameful concealment, Thunderseal was finally free from its shroud.

Ky tightened his grip around the red handle, and went for the door.

"Ky? Where are you going?" she asked as he began to twist the knob. He didn't answer her though, he was too focused on getting rid of this woman before she got the chance to come near Dizzy.

He ran towards the woman nearing the cabin and skidded to a stop, blocking her path, becoming the only barrier between her and Dizzy. She didn't look like much of a match. He could kill her—if it weren't another sin to try to cleanse himself of.

"Stop right there!" he shouted at the woman.

The woman stopped a few paces from him at his command. She placed a hand upon her hip and passed him a devious little grin. "What do you think you're gonna do with that big sword, huh?"

"Kill you if you take another step further," he growled. "What do you want from Dizzy?"

"A man who gets straight to the point. Ooh, and he's got an accent. Kind of sexy." She placed a finger to her crimson lips.

"Shut up," he snarled. "Answer my question!"

She passed him that same little smirk. "This is only between me and that ugly beast. Now why don't you step aside and let me deal with her? I saw that beast from behind the door. Don't bother hiding her."

Ky looked over his shoulder towards the door, then pulled his head forward again, returning his eyes on the woman in red. "You want Dizzy? You're going to have to go through me first!"

The woman laughed. "Don't play hero with me. This is only between me and her. This doesn't involve you, so why don't you step aside before you get hurt."

"No!" he growled. "This does involve me. Now. Like I said, if you want her, you'll have to get past me first."

The woman placed her hand upon her chest, and sighed, while Ky watched the frost escape from her breath. "If you insist." She then raised her guitar over her head, and lunged at him. She swung the instrument down on him, slamming it right across the head, making Ky stumble backwards, struggling to keep his balance.

The whole ordeal caught him by surprise. He wasn't even expecting her to attack him, but she did. It left him dazed with a sharp pain writhing where she hit him. His vision wavered for a few moments and he blinked until it began to subside. Even his hearing had numbed, but he still heard the woman's muffled laughter.

"That's what you get for standing in my way!"

"Leave him alone!"

It was Dizzy's voice. He quickly picked his head up to see her fly out the door. She halted a step or two from the woman, and threw her arms out, seeming as if she shoved the woman back, sending her flying a good few feet away. But once his jarred brain gathered what was going on, he noticed that she never put her hands on the woman. She had used her powers to send her back. What a feat.

He watched a moment past his wavering vision as the woman began to pick herself up, meanwhile Dizzy floated—actually floated—towards her, mere inches from the ground. He blinked trying to clear his vision. "Dizzy . . ."

She didn't turn her attention to him and moved closer but kept out of arm's range. She placed her feet on the solid ground again, placing her weight into her good leg. She spread her fingers while she lifted her arms from her sides, as if she were protecting _him_.

Was she?

He rubbed at the soreness at the side of his head.

"Leave me alone!" Dizzy snapped at the woman. "Leave _us _alone!"

That mocking laughter of the woman hit his partially muffled ears again. "There's an us now?" She laughed again.

"Just go away and leave us alone. What do you want from me?"

"I just want to have a little fun teasing you and torturing you. Haven't you done that before? Maybe you should ask him." She turned her head towards Ky, the two making eye contact. "He looks like he knows about that sort of thing. He's got those eyes." He watched a grin slip across her lips.

"Who are you?" he growled, narrowing his eyes.

"Leave him alone!" Dizzy said. "He wouldn't do anything you would. He's not like you."

His conscience felt like it was squeezing his brain. Dizzy was defending him, defending a person who had indeed harmed people just for the sheer thrill of it. Dizzy didn't have a clue about the secrets he held within him. And it felt wrong.

He pulled his lips back into a sneer, then charged forward and straight for the woman in red. He began to raise Thunderseal, with sparks riding along its edge. He ignored the heat building on the palm of his hand and focused on the woman. She raised her eyes past the brim of her hat as he lunged at her. When he slashed his blade, she shielded herself with the body of the guitar. His arm was lightly jarred at the force of his blade hitting her guitar. The sensation ran up his arm, even feeling it down in his bones. He slashed his blade again and again, while the woman held up her defense against him. After his third failed slash, he raised a foot and aimed a kick just over the body of the guitar. This time, he hit his mark, with his boot striking her face.

She stumbled backwards, holding her face. He readied himself for another strike but Dizzy's voice halted him before he could.

"Stop it! Stop it!"

He turned his head over his shoulder to look at her, the Gear in him heeding to her command.

Then, he watched as her soft red eyes widened and her mouth fell agape. He saw her green wing twitch. She wrapped her arms around herself, her knees closing in on one another. She ducked her head as she assumed the strange position, her body beginning to shake. A gasp escaped her mouth before she commanded, "Ky, get down!"

There was no hesitation. He dropped straight to the ground on his stomach_, _with one hand still gripping Thunderseal close by his side. A few seconds after he hit the ground, he heard her scream. He didn't get up, though, no matter how badly that scream of hers urged him to. He felt a powerful energy cross over him, like an angel of death. He kept his head ducked.

He then heard the woman in red scream, and her body collide into the snow. He laid there a few seconds more, his ears burning from the silence around him. But then energy was gone, giving him the suggestion that it was all over.

He picked his head up and saw Dizzy on the ground. He immediately scurried to his feet and knelt by her side. Thankfully, though, her eyes were open. Perhaps she just had been knocked off her feet. "Dizzy?"

She turned those beautiful red eyes to him. "I couldn't hold back. She was going to attack you."

"Thank you, Dizzy," he whispered, then picked his head up. At the mention of the woman in red, he saw her picking herself up from the attack. She looked like she had just been hit by car, the wind knocked out of her, her hair a bit tasseled, with a few small tears in her barely-there clothing. She was holding her side. Maybe she got a few broken ribs.

Good.

"I'll deal with her now," he said, and stood up. He stormed over to the woman, his hand wrapped around his sword tightly. She was so dazed, she barely noticed him by the time he neared her. Just as she looked up, he threw his free hand out and grabbed her roughly by the throat. She began choking as he began to pull her away. "You have a lot of explaining to do." He dragged her across the snow, her feet barely keeping her up with her.

He pulled her by the stream where he hurled her into the icy water. He watched how her body slammed into it, throwing icy water into the air. He stood on the bank, watching her sit up, her knees in the air. Her glance soon turned to him, cursing, "Ugh. You bastard!"

It only made him chuckle as he looked down on the water. He brought the tip of his sword to it, the tip raised an inch from the water. He swirled the blade over the water, feeling the heat, aching to let the electricity riseand flow into the water. He looked down into it with an emotionless face. "Did you know water is a conductor of electricity?"

"You wouldn't."

He then grinned, his lips sadistic and hungry.He continue to swirl the tip of the blade above the water, teasing her with the idea. "Oh, I would, after what you did to Dizzy and I. Actually, I could care less what you do to me. I can withstand your attacks. But Dizzy? That's where you cross the line. A nice girl like her doesn't need anymore grief. God punishes those who sin. Think of this as the hand of God." He then felt heat burn into his hand as the electricity jumped from the sword and into the water, quickly spreading like a hungry swarm, straight to the woman in red, as if the magic could sense her evil.

She screamed as the water was electrified with his magic and attacked her body. The moment she struggled to get to her feet, she flopped back down like a fish, throwing water and ice about. She soon laid in the water, becoming motionless with her face just barely getting a taste of the cold air. His face was emotionless as before, watching the electricity fade out as it lost the touch of its master.

And with that, he returned to Dizzy.


	5. Reunion

"Dizzy!"

May's heart was beating wildly beneath her chest when she saw Dizzy pushed overboard by an intruder. She didn't even catch her name, but that didn't matter anyhow; she was gone too. A second after she saw her friend go overboard, an explosion erupted from within the ship, making young May struggle for balance, as well as the other girls around her. She quickly grabbed a hold of the railing to keep herself from winding up like her friend.

It was happening all too fast.

There was silence at first, the kind heard after an accident. May hated that sort of silence. It always meant something was terribly wrong. She turned her head towards Johnny who was standing nearby, staring in disbelief at nothing in particular. His mouth was hanging agape.

"Johnny, what was that?"

At her voice, he snapped himself out of it and turned to his head. Before he opened his mouth, the intercom answered that for him. "Johnny, one of the engines exploded!" April's voice was behind it.

This was bad. Very bad. May still couldn't figure out how the intruder---a musician in red---got onto the Mayship. She almost felt responsible, but then again, it happened so fast though, like the musician in red had everything planned.

"Get this thing landed!" Johnny barked.

"But Johnny," May protested. "What about Dizzy?"

"I know, May, but we need to land first. She couldn't have fallen far. But that was a pretty long fall." He scratched at the back of his head, tilting his hat forward over his brows as he did so.

"I just hope she's okay," May said. _And alive_, she said to herself.

"We'll all go looking for her after we land," Johnny said. "Have some faith, May."

"I am, I am!" she quickly said. She looked off into the clouds, hoping for some childish reason she would see Dizzy, but no, she knew she was on the ground, hurt. She had to be realistic. She fell a couple thousand feet, and even for a Gear like Dizzy, something was going to get hurt.

* * *

She tried again to pick herself up. This time she was able to keep herself on her feet, but the pain was unbearable. She took in a deep breath, trying not let the pain get the best of her. Although, if she wanted to be found by the pirates, she had to get moving, even if her leg cooperated or not. She slowly reached out and took a hold of a branch before she began to step forward, stepping carefully and slowly. She bit down on her lower lip as she moved, and eventually, it began to work. She constantly grabbed onto the trees near her for balance.

Tree by tree, branch by branch, she moved down a narrow path.

As she limped on, she could hear the sound of a trickling stream. It was a beautiful sound to Dizzy's ears. The sounds it made formed harmony into her heart, and even began to make her forget about the pain in her leg. It reminded her of the grove where she came from. Whenever the pirates landed, she always went in search of the nearest forest to explore.

But this forest was cold. There was a bed of dead leaves littering the ground, and all the trees were bare with their twisted, ancient branches reaching for the heavens, as if seeking a salvation from the unforgiving ambient. The fauna wasn't the same as the grove, either. She could hear unseen crows calling from the trees and howls of creatures she never heard before. One even sounded like screeching laughter. It was like walking through a ghost forest. She felt like there were beings following her. But it was only shadows—right?

As she looked over her shoulder, the toe of her boot caught an exposed root, and sent her into the ground. She gasped in pain as her body collided into the cold ground. After she landed, she swore she heard something or someone laughing. Or was that the stream?

That's right, the stream. Follow the stream. Maybe she could follow it until she found a safe place. She cautiously picked herself up and limped towards the sound. She was more cautious this time, watching where she stepped before she could fall again.

She limped her weak body along until she finally saw the quaint stream a short distance away. A sigh of relief escaped her lips. She slowly and carefully limped to the bank of the rushing stream. Frost coated the edge of it, showing her how cold it really was. She supposed the pain in her body made her ignore the bitterness in the air.

She followed the bank, waiting for some sort of salvation to come to her. But something did come across her way. A tiny wooden bridge. And bridge meant people. But were these good people?

Well, she would have to find out. With that bridge, she also saw smoke in the air. That put even more caution to the wind. She was growing more nervous by the minute as she approached the weather-beaten bridge. She grabbed the railing, and stared ahead. There were people here, clear evidence of it. In the short distance was a small wooden cabin---and even closer was a man in black. Their eyes quickly met, and the man went on edge, jolting at her presence. He was wearing a long black coat and had dark red hair. He was carrying an arm full of wood, but when he saw her, he dropped them to the ground. He stared in shock, and that expression brought sadness to her heart. She knew that look.

_A human_! Necro, howled into her ear. _Kill him, kill him_!

* * *

_It's going to snow_, he said to himself as he added another log to the fireplace. He stared a long moment at the growing fire in front of him. The fire was beautiful and welcoming this time, but there was a time when he could barely stand to see it. He recalled it wasn't long ago that he would cringe and flinch at the sight of just the tiniest flame, nearly to the point of panic. It brought memories, bad memories he wanted to forget.

_"Get out, beast! Get out!"_

He closed his eyes, trying to block out the images in his head. He wanted to see darkness, nothing more. No more humans. No more hatred. No more blood.

He closed his eyes until he remembered it was just him here; him and his horse, Nora, who he inherited from a blind man. She was the only company he had, otherwise he may have gone stir crazy, and that was the least he wanted. An insane man like him in the forest was a bad idea.

But he had control. He had complete control now.

He breathed in the air deeply, catching the scent of the burning logs in his nose.

_"Monster!"_

He exhaled, then opened his eyes to the fireplace. _If it's going to snow, _he said to himself, _I better get more logs in here before it's too late. I can't tell how bad it's going to be. It might be a blizzard for all I know._

He moved to the door and met the chilly air outside. He could smell it, it surely was going to snow, at least by the middle of the night. Earlier maybe. He never liked the snow. What animal did?

He started towards the side of his cabin, and whistled. "Nora, 'ere girl." He looked around the side of the cabin and saw his mare lift her head up to him, her ears flickering. He gave a gentle smile as the mare made her way to him, breathing cold frost as she approached him.

Ky put his hand into her mane as she came up to him. "Ah, it's cold out 'ere, isn't it? Come on." He passed the mare's side, leading her up to her small single stable that was nestled a few paces away. "Inside," he said to her in his thick French accent. "Inside." He pulled the door open and held it as the mare slowly stepped in obediently.

It was like she knew everything what he wanted. There were times he wondered if she understood human speech, even his. He sometime spoke in French to her, and maybe there were times she understood him then, too.

He closed the door to her stable after she was securely inside, and trekked back to the small cabin. He gathered an arm full of already chopped wood laying nearby and brought them inside, setting them near the burning fireplace, then returned to the pile for another stack.

As he took more from the pile, he noticed something at the corner of his eye. Something that didn't belong here. He turned his head to the bridge and saw someone coming. They crossed the old wooden bridge slowly.

He then dropped the logs in his arms as he looked more closely at the figure crossing the bridge. She had wings and a tail. She was clearly a Gear. He could sense it. The Gear in him could sense it. He stared hard at her, barely able to take his eyes off her.

He hadn't seen a Gear in so long. It was a stunning thing to see after so long. They stared at each other for several intense moments, while the female clung to the edge of the bridge. Ky's tense body loosened a bit the longer they looked at each other.

Something didn't seem right about her.

He carefully stepped towards her, and then—

"I'm sorry," she whimpered.

"I'm sorry?" he asked with a tilt of his head.

Her dark wing then arched over her head, revealing for a brief moment a cloaked figure,

but he couldn't make up what it was. The Gear then charged forward, and swung her arm at him, suddenly encased in armor and nails. He dashed to the side out of the way, but somehow managed to trip on his own feet.

Oh how graceful.

He landed right on his backside, staring up at the female Gear before him. "No, wait," he said. "What are you doing? Stop!" He scurried to his feet, and took a quick step back just as something erupted from the ground. A giant shard of ice. His eyes went wide as he stared at it. It was right in front of his nose. If he hadn't moved then, he might have been. . . .

Ky looked over to the female Gear to see her hold her head and gasp. An old instinct told him to look down, a ghost voice, and when he did, he saw the ground beneath his feet beginning to open up as if hell were trying to swallow him. He jumped back just in time, landing on his heels, but the leaves under his boots made him slip again. His feet went out from under him and sent him tumbling down towards the bank of the stream. Thankfully, though, he caught himself.

He looked up at the female Gear again, his fingers dug into the half frozen ground. He watched how her legs wobbled and forced her to collapse to her knees. She sat there, swaying a bit, holding the side of her head.

There was peace for a moment, allowing him to get a slight grip on himself. He stayed there on the ground, lifting himself up by his arms and leaned on his hip to take a closer look at the attacking Gear. She didn't move or show any sign of any readiness to attack him again. All seemed clear.

He slowly got to his feet, then cautiously made his way up to the fallen Gear. "M-madamoiselle?" He could see goosebumps on her exposed skin. She had to be freezing in the outfit she was wearing. Absolutely freezing. The cropped jacket and black bikini she was wearing had no cold weather protection what-so-ever. What was she doing in that around here anyway?

"I'm...I'm s-sorry," she stammered as she shivered, keeping her arms tightly crossed against her chest. At least she had some coverage on her arms.

He didn't take his eyes off her. He watched as she lifted her head and met her soft red eyes with his. He never saw such eyes on a Gear before. They almost seemed human. "Where did you come from? Did somebody send you?"

"No," she said. "I'm sorry I attacked you. I'm lost."

"Why did you attack me?"

"I got scared," she said.

"You scared me too," he said, and forced a weak grin. "You're not going to attack me again, are you?"

"No," she said.

"Then let me help you up." He held his hand to her, but instead of taking his hand, she stared at it, and he had a feeling he knew exactly what she was staring at.

_Don't stare at the scar. Don't stare at the scar. Just take my hand, that all I want you to do._

She finally took his hand gently, but when he pulled her to her feet, she gasped as she stood, and stumbled into him. He caught her as she went into his chest.

"What's wrong?"

"My leg hurts."

He forced his eyes to look down on her, down to her legs. There were several bruises and scratches on her.

"Here, sit down a moment." He wrapped one of her arms around his shoulder as he aided her to sit down on the ground. Nervously, he touched his hands down to her thigh, down to her lower leg. That was when he felt the break. "Your leg's broken."

"It is?"

He nodded slowly. "I'm afraid so. Listen, I live in that cabin there," he said, pointing. "I normally wouldn't say this, but if you come in, I can set it for you. I can't let you walk around on the broken leg or you're going to damage further."

"If you're a nice person," she said.

He found himself to look into her soft eyes again. "I'd like to think I am. Now. Will you?" He offered his hand to her again. She nodded, and took his offer again. He carefully lead her to the inside of the cabin, making sure he walked slowly with a pace she could keep up with, his arm wrapped around her while she put her weight into his side. The walk to the front door seemed longer than it should have been. His mind was a jumble of what to say to her. It had been too long since he had a conversation with anyone.

"Just take it slow," he said. "Don't worry about anyone else. I'm the only one around here. There isn't anyone for miles." He finally reached for the door then and led her inside the warm and dim room. The fireplace was the only source of light. He caught her looking around at the corner of his eye, taking in the sight of the den. It was an orderly but bland place, yet it had a bit of class, much like its new owner. A small couch was pressed up against the wall on the left, while a stuffed chair was nestled near the fireplace. A short coffee table was set beside it. Above the fireplace, a long wrapped object was hung like a hunter's trophy, but what laid under it was no longer a trophy.

"You have a nice place. How long have you been here?"

"A few years. It was passed down to me by a stranger, actually." He felt her stumble forward, and quickly grabbed a hold of her waist and brought her back to him before she could hit the floor. "Stay still. Here, here, why don't you sit down?" He gestured a hand to the fireplace and carefully led her there. He held her by the shoulders as he allowed her to sit down. "Careful. Don't put any weight on that leg."

She sat with no more surprises or falls. Once she was down, he released his hands from her body and stood up again. He placed his fist by his mouth as he looked down on her, studying her.

"Now I think I need to find a splint for your leg after I set it," he said, and glanced left and right, searching for something stiff, like a piece of wood that would be able to hold her leg. He spotted a broom near the open kitchen, but did he really want to sacrifice it?

"Have you done this before?" the Gear asked.

He turned his head back to her. "No." He turned then, heading out the door and back into the cold air. If he wasn't going to sacrifice his broom, then something better would have to do, something he could use without really missing it. He licked his lips in thought as he looked around himself, then trekked back over to the wood pile. Of course he could find something here. His eyes searched the ground by the pile, and just as he expected, a broken branch was laying there. He picked it up and examined it.

It would have to do.

He lowered it to the ground and stomped on the center of it, breaking it in half. It left no dangerous splinters that would hurt the Gear if it pressed into her flesh. Besides, who heard of a piece of wood hurting a Gear? He had lived with them most his life. He knew they were hearty, but this one seemed different. Very different.

He headed back into the cabin and dropped the two pieces by her. "I'll be right back." He felt her eyes on him as he walked past her without looking at her and straight into his bedroom. He knelt down by the side of his bed, and pulled out a neatly folded sheet from under it that had been tucked away. With it in hand, he then stood up and lifted his pillow to reveal a dagger laying under it.

Sometimes, old habits die hard.

He then returned to the Gear, who watched every move he made. He noticed her eye the dagger especially hard. He unfolded the sheet, letting the air unravel it. The Gear still didn't take her eyes off him. He slit a hole into the sheet and began tearing them into strips, until he had three sections of them torn out.

"Do you know what you're doing?" the Gear asked him.

He knelt down in front of her. "Not really. But it can't be that hard. Right?" He lifted his head and watched how she stared at him. She looked like she was close to running for the door by the look on her face. He couldn't help but grin. "Do you trust me?"

"I really don't know you, but—"

"Do you trust me?"

Her eyes wandered as if searching for an answer. He didn't blame her, thought, he didn't even trust himself.

"Yes," she then said slowly. "If you can fix my leg, then I trust you."

He passed her a reassuring grin, one of his famous fake grins he could trick anyone with, then scooted closer to her. He nearly saw her muscles tense from under her skin as he moved closer. He began to reach for her leg, but then paused and looked up at her again. "You're not going to attack me again if I do hurt you, are you?"

She shook her head.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded.

He sighed, hoping what she said was true. He knew how snappy Gears could get when they were in pain. He had been bitten by a few in his younger years, Gears that had been apart of his band, his family. But then again, this one. . . .

He slowly reached out and placed a hand upon her knee. Just as he began to move it down to her shin where the break was placed, he paused and looked up at her. "Listen, if you do feel that you may lash out at me," he said, then passed her the remains of the sheet. "Hold onto that. I'm not sure how much you can tolerate pain."

"Okay." She wrapped her hands around the sheet like a child would a favorite teddy bear.

He looked down on her leg again, struggling to keep his eyes solely on that leg. He placed his hands around her calf, and let his fingers feel for the break on her shinbone. Once he felt it, he pressed both hands on the bone and began pressing on it, then pulled and pushed again. He tried not to look at the Gear as she gasped and cried out in pain. He felt her begin to pull away, but he only tightened his grip around her leg. "Just hang on," he said as he worked. "If you cooperate, this won't take long. Ah, I don't believe I got your name."

"D-Dizzy," she whimpered.

"Dizzy," he repeated, with his accent adding more charm to the name. "I'm Ky." He pressed on her leg, and then finally felt the bone slip into place. "Stay still, Dizzy, stay still. I think I got it." She moaned as he ran his hand along her smooth shin, covered by her thigh-high stocking. It shined against the reflection of the flames nearby. "Yes, I think I did." He then turned his head and reached for the sticks behind him. "Are you alright, Dizzy?"

It took her a while to answer behind her sobs and whimpers. "Umm. . .y-yeah. Are you done?"

"Almost." He braced both sticks against her leg, one against the back of her knee, then began to wrap them tightly. "You've been doing very good. How did you break it in the first place?"

"I fell."

"I see. Well, it didn't seem too bad. Thank you for not trying to attack me. You did well." He slowly lifted his head up and found her once again staring at him.

_You know why she's looking at you like that, don't you? _he told himself. _She's staring at your eyes, like everyone else. Soon she's going to ask questions. _He looked across from under his brows. "Dizzy, I've noticed you've been staring at me oddly. Is there something you—"

"I've seen you before," she suddenly said.

That took him back. He sat back with his knees up and eyed her carefully.

_You know what she means. She thinks you're _him.

"What?"

"Your face looks so familiar," she said. "I swear I've seen you before."

"No," he said. "I think it's just a coincidence. We haven't seen each other before." He stood up then. "I suggest you rest for now. Were you alone when you broke your leg?"

"I am now," she said. "But my friends should come looking for me soon."

He barely heard her, as if he was drowning everything else out. He strode away from her slowly, towards the window with his arms crossed. _What if she did meet him before? What if she knows him? _

_Then we have a problem. _


	6. Hunters

Dizzy was on the mend, and doing quite well. There was still a limp left, but he supposed within another week, she would be completely healed. His visits to the Mayship hadn't been as bad as he thought it would be, as long as he avoided the pirates or the captain, Johnny. The girls he tolerated, but Johnny? There was something about him Ky didn't like. But he wasn't there for them, he only brought himself through that haunted forest and risked being touched by its evil only for Dizzy. 

She always made such a trek worthwhile. She spoke with him, walked with him through the halls of the Mayship, insisting yet again, she be on her feet. She even fed him, saying he was too skinny. He didn't mind it all. At least there was company to occupy his mind and hungry soul.

Just a few days ago, she surprised him by arriving at his door, by herself. He knew she could have gotten lost just by doing so and scolded her for it, but she didn't seem phased by his warning. Maybe it was a good thing after all. She proved to him she was doing fine. But what worried him more was the time when the pirates would be able to fix their ship and finally be on their way. If they went, then that meant Dizzy would be gone, too.

He didn't want that happening. A crazy thought even crossed his mind to even sabotage their ship, further delaying their departure. But could he really bring himself to do that?

_Yes, of course. It is for a good cause._

Distracted in his own thoughts, Ky suddenly lost his balance on a patch of snow, sending his legs out from under him and landed on his backside. His hands barely caught him, but the landing wasn't too harsh—or embarrassing. At least there was no one around to witness it.

Or so he thought.

His mind wandered back to where he left off, before he found himself thinking of Dizzy. Again. He repositioned himself, pulling his legs under him until he was squatting comfortably, his fingertips to the ground like a big cat stalking its prey. But the prey was unknown. There was a possibility that whatever he was tracking was just a spook. It wasn't the only occasion he found himself chasing shadows.

Maybe it was because the pirates were stirring up the forest or maybe it was because he was losing his mind.

It wouldn't be a surprise. Why would the forest suddenly get to him like this and make him start seeing things?

He couldn't help to think he was being watched. Even now, he still felt it.

He shifted and began to pull one leg forward, finding solid ground, then pulled his body forward, crouching again. He pressed his shoulder up against a tree, his cheek nearly pressed up against it as he peeked past the edge of it, his skin just grazing the rough bark. He narrowed his eyes and watched a collection of bushes in the distance.

Nothing moved. The spot he had expected that held whatever was watching him showed no sign of life or disembodied beings. He must have sat there for at least a few more minutes, watching, before his body and mind finally gave in. His body gave in first, his shoulder muscles tightening, pressing him up against the tree beside him. He leaned his head against it and sighed.

_What are you chasing after anyway? How many times do you have to do this? You know what this is, you know exactly what this is. So why are you playing its game?_

He was right, but he still couldn't shake that feeling.

Ky finally stood, letting his hands climb up the tree as he unfolded his legs until he was standing again. His leg muscles cried as they found their freedom again. He leaned against the tree as he gave one last gaze to the spot he could have sworn eyes were watching him.

_It's just a spook._

He nodded to himself, then finally turned away. His boots kicked a few lasting patches of snow that had survived the last snowfall as he moved back towards his cabin.

As he moved, a corner of his mind still felt the urge to look back. He bit down hard on his lower lip, his only resort from allowing himself to do so. And it worked. Sometimes a little pain was the only thing that could get his attention. He bit himself so hard, he even tasted his own blood. He sucked on the blood on his inner lip, following his tracks back to the stream that neared the cabin. With a step back and a healthy bound across it, he cleared it.

But then, subconsciously, he found himself looking back again.

_Damn it._

"Ky!" he then heard Dizzy's voice.

That's snapped him out of it. He shook his head and looked ahead to see Dizzy walking from the front of the cabin, towards him. She was carrying something at her side. He hadn't expected her to be here so early. She waved a hand as she limped to him, greeting him with a smile.

"There you are. Where were you?"

"I was," he said and looked back again. "I was just taking a walk."

He wasn't going to admit the truth this time. He didn't want to worry her.

"Oh," she said. "I got a little worried."

_Too late._

"You're normally here."

"Well, I wasn't expecting you at this hour. But it's a nice surprise." He passed her a faint grin.

"I came here to bring you something," she said and brought the object by her side into further view. Under her arm was a wicket basket, with a little red bow on the handle. It was tied the same way she had her bows in her hair and tail. She slid her hand into it and brought out a rather tempting looking muffin.

He cocked a brow at it and fought off a nasty little grin. "Come here to feed me?"

"Yes, I did. Here, take it. And I brought some for Nora, too."

Of course, he had no choice but to comply to her wish, and took the offered muffin. Blueberry, and it looked delicious. He watched as she took out one she had planned to give his horse.

"Well, if you give her that you'll be her best friend," he said.

"Good," she said with a smile. "Where is she?"

"I don't know." He glanced around. "She would be normally roaming around, but I hadn't seen her. Certainly on a nice day like this."

He had been noticing odd behavior from her lately. It was as if she were getting just as paranoid as he were. Was there something out here after all?

"Let's go find her," he offered with a wave of his hand, and lead her across the clearing. He checked her normal spots where she grazed or slept, but found no sight of her. But when he trekked up to her stable, there he found her standing by the far corner with her head down. He grabbed a hold of the edge of the door as he looked across at her. "There you are."

She was acting strangely, even the way she held herself showed it. She almost looked like she could bolt at any slight movement. Dizzy didn't even follow her into her stable. She looked up at him for his permission first.

She didn't even have to ask.

"You can go head and give it to her now."

She nodded and reached a hand down into the basket. "Come here, Nora. Come here, girl. I have something for you." She held it out to her as she remained by the open doorway. He looked on as the offer of food brought the mare out of her corner, her ears up now.

After a few moments of declaring it safe, Ky leaned up against the side of the stable and ate the muffin that he had been holding, tearing pieces of it off before he ate it. He ate it slowly, savoring the taste and freshness of the bread. He talked with her as she fed his horse, casual talk. It still felt like a new skill to him. He never really had a casual talk until she came around.

He supposed there was a first time for everything.

* * *

"Should we worry about the male?"

"I thought you understood the plan by now, Jonas. The male isn't a concern. All we're concerned about is the female."

"I think he knows about us. He seems more on high alert. He noticed us this morning. He could have discovered us if he weren't looking for the wrong spot. What if he does know we were watching?"

"Stop worrying. We've got it. It happens today."

Jonas let out a breath after that. He knew there was no swaying his uncle in a decision, certain when it involved a Gear hunt. Whatever he said goes, that was the rule he quickly learned about him after he took the boy in after his parents' death years ago. He adored the man nonetheless. He was a great Gear hunter and even trained him after he was old enough. He always thought he should have became a Holy Knight, but he never did. He always talked about it, but blamed his bad knee for not doing so. At least he was there with his men to defend the village from any Gear.

—But these Gears, they were nothing he thought they would be. When a stranger came into their village saying there were two Gears in the forest, the group took no hesitation, gathered their weapons and went out into the forest. And after passing through that horrible place, it was proven that there were Gears here. The female give it all away. But the male in black didn't seem like a Gear at all. Maybe they were wrong about him. There was nothing Gear-like about him, from a distance at least.

The female didn't seem so Gear-like either. She acted like a girl, a plain, normal girl. She played with the male's horse, watched what few animals there were and even giggled like a normal girl. All she seemed to Jonas was a girl with wings and a tail. But he couldn't mention such a thought to his uncle or the other hunters. It wasn't his place. He knew better than to question him. He couldn't ruin his first hunt.

What if she did have a Gear side? He wouldn't know until they finally captured her.

He gripped his hand around his spear tightly and followed the group into the woods.

* * *

"May said we'll be back in the skies soon. They got engine parts from a nearby village and Novel's started fixing it yesterday. She said she worked all night on it."

"They finally got parts?"

"Yes. It must have taken a long time, but they're finally going to get the engine back together and working again. Isn't that great?"

Ky shifted on his hip as he sat on the floor with his company. She decided to try to teach him a few card games while on her visit. She went for a simple game, one ironically called War. He didn't like the name too much but it was an interesting game. He quickly caught on after a brief explanation of it. They were on their fifth round.

He grabbed another pair of cards and slid it towards him, then set down another card. "I guess so. I suppose the rest of the girls are looking forward to it."

Dizzy giggled. "They are. Some of the girls want to pitch in anyway they can. Novel already has two helpers now. But I can tell some of them are anxious. They've been that way for a while." She placed a hand over her mouth before she placed down another card.

"I can imagine," he said. "You'll miss the surface won't you?"

"I always do. It's why this place is so nice."

"This place? Nice? Are you sure you're alright?"

She giggled again. "Yes, I am. I do like this place. The forest is interesting, the stream is always wonderful to listen to. I actually feel safe here." She turned her head to look out the window.

"Not everyone would say that," he said. "But then again, no one comes here."

"That's why I feel safe," she said, then turned her head back down on the cards again. She didn't place her new card down though. "Hmm, but it's starting to get late. I don't want to worry anyone."

"You're right," he said slowly. "Do you want me to escort you again?"

"You don't have to."

"I should. You know I don't like you going out there alone. I don't want anything happening to you."

She grinned. "I know you don't like me going alone. But I think it's better that I surprise you. I don't mind you walking me, but I have a feeling that you don't like coming to the Mayship too much."

He looked past a few strands of his bangs as he looked across at her. No, he didn't like it, but he wasn't going to admit it to her. He didn't want to upset her in any way. He knew she loved these people. "Come on, I'll take you back." He stood up again and held his hand out to her, offering it to her.

She looked up at him before she picked up the cards and put them into the basket she brought along with her. She took his hand and was brought back to her feet. He gave her a nod before he lead the way outside. There was at least an two hours before the sun would set. It was a good time for the girl to be home.

"I'll get Nora. Stay here." He trekked up to the small stable and pulled the reins from the wall before he found the horse sunning herself by a tree. After bridling the mare, he lead her to Dizzy and helped her onto her back. "Your reins." He handed them to her and double checked her position on the mare. She kept her basket on her lap in one hand while the other held the reins. She kept her back nice and straight, the way he had taught her.

He began to take a few steps forward, looking over his shoulder as he watched her guide the horse after him. He stayed by her side as he lead the way into the dark woods, with the shadows and shade of the gnarled trees surrounding them quickly. The woods almost seemed to consume them, with the trees jutting up at their sides, crowding each other in like a faceless crowd watching them.

The woods were oddly silent this time, no howls or spirits following them from a distance. It was like the spirits within it had found some other to torment. He was expecting some sort of sound or sensation, but there was nothing. It almost seemed like a normal forest for a long moment. And Ky didn't like it. Something didn't seem right.

But then, he finally heard something. It was something that he never heard the forest do before, but at least it was alive again. He heard whispers in his ears, whispers that formed no words that he could hear or make any sense out of. They continued to work in his ears, even feeling as if the whispers were in his head, as if he had finally become a madman.

The whispering ceased a few moments like there were a true conversation going on, then after a while, he noticed the whispers becoming faster and faster. The whispers became faster until it was just a jumbled, chaotic sound in his ears.

"Cut it out," he muttered, having enough of it, but his warning only went upon deaf ears. The whispers continued in his ears and even his mind. He couldn't dare to look up at Dizzy if she was getting any of it, but he believed if she were, she would have been screaming. A sane person would have been screaming by now.

But then, they suddenly ceased—or he had gone deaf. While slowly removing his hands from his ears, he stopped and glanced around himself, waiting for something to happen.

But nothing happened. The forest remained in that strange silence.

"Ky?"

He snapped his head up, his ears finally hearing something that was real. He must have seemed dazed to her.

"What is it?"

He must have.

Ky shook his head and even tapped a naked palm at his right ear. "Nothing, nothing. It's just the forest. Ignore it. Come on." He began to step forward, while Nora's slow gait followed him soon after. And so did that silence. But it was broken for a brief second as he heard a twig snap, like something was walking through the forest. He turned his head, and that was when he saw something streak across the air towards him. It was too fast for his eyes to capture. For a moment, he thought it was just an illusion.

Any thought was snatched away from his brain then as a blinding pain suddenly latched onto his upper arm, right into the flesh and muscle of his shoulder. He screamed and grabbed for the source of the pain—which lead to something he wasn't expecting. His fingers found themselves gripping a fine shaft of an arrow sticking out of his flesh, the arrowhead buried.

"Ky, was is that?"

He stared at the arrow sticking out of his shoulder, and that was when thoughts returned to him.

They weren't alone. The way the forest behaved—the whispering—and now the arrow.

They were being hunted.

He quickly snapped his head up, his eyes wide. "Dizzy! Run!"

"But what's—"

"Run damn it!" he screamed at her, then slapped his hand hard against Nora's backside, hard enough to make his hand sting. The strike made Nora take off down the trail with Dizzy shrieking as she held on for dear life, bouncing along the mare's back. Ky watched a moment, making sure no man would suddenly jump out of the woods and attack her.

But they did.

Two armed men dashed out of the woods and chased after her like dogs, running hard to catch up to the fleeing mare. He saw one carrying a sword.

"Dizzy!" He began to spring his legs forward, but he heard someone ran out from behind him and struck him at the back of his skull. He stumbled and fell to his knees, his vision quickly overcome with dizziness. He felt numb a moment.

"Get him, boy! Get him! He's easy!"

He turned his head over his shoulder and saw a teenaged boy in a tan-hide coat behind him. Another hunter, an older male, stood behind him. He saw a glimpse of a crossbow held by his thigh. He was a gruff looking man, brown hair with streaks of gray in them. But the boy was what his slightly dazed eyes focused on. In his hands, he cocked a long spear back, with the blunt end aimed at him.

He could never forget the look in the boy's face. His eyes. It was as if he couldn't bring himself to attack him. His eyes were wide, almost afraid.

"Uncle, I can't. He's—"

Ky then heard Dizzy scream. He turned his head down the trail, but he couldn't see her.

"Dizzy!" He stood up and felt the boy behind him. He turned his head to look at him, seeing his eyes widen more as he came face to face with him. He stared him dead in the eyes. He saw the boy begun to sink under his demonic glare.

He began to lunge at him, focusing his rage on the youth, an easy target, but when he moved, the boy gasped and leaned back as if he were a snake about to strike. And in defense, he finally threw the end of his spear at him. He swung it at his head. As he saw the blunt end come at him, a flash of red attacked his eyes. And then, everything went black.

Dizzy's screaming stopped.


	7. Return of the Dark Knight

They used magic.

Ky came to with the vision of trees flooding his eyes. Countless branches stretched out above him, moving and bending to the light breeze that touched the cold air. He listened to the wind whisper in his ears as he stared up at them, dazed. He couldn't remember what had happened in the woods, or even how he came to be lying there on the ground. It was as if he had just woken from a dream, but that dream was really a nightmare.

A spirit howled in the distance, a deep and haunting sound. It finally broke the silence that had become accustomed to his ears. He squinted up at the dull sky and dark branches hovering over him.

The silence—

It all began to come to him. The forest's odd silence—the whispering—Dizzy—

"Dizzy."

He sat up, and as he did, a searing pain coursed through his shoulder. He grabbed for the source of the pain, finding that same arrow shaft still sticking out of his flesh and muscle. His fingers explored across the shaft a moment. There wasn't much blood, but the movement had caused the arrowhead to cut into his muscle again.

He turned his head and squinted past a blinding pain at the side of his skull that only seemed to intensify as he looked down the crooked trail, where he remembered last seeing Dizzy flee, the men in hot pursuit. He still heard Dizzy's screams in his head.

He began to pull himself into a stand, the pain only growing as he stood. His head especially hurt. But the pain of the aftereffects of the magic didn't matter. Dizzy did.

Ky stepped forward, feeling a bit lightheaded at first, but his vision quickly corrected itself. He cast his eyes down, watching the hoof prints left in the dirt. He followed them down a few meters until the prints became smeared into the dirt, with human footprints mixed in with it. He even saw Dizzy's prints there.

He quickly picked his head up and looked into the woods around him, looking for some sort of sign that she had escaped them. Hell, if she could defend herself against that woman in red, he knew she could defend herself against a gang of hunters. Or could she? They seemed rather organized.

It seemed as if they had been planning this. And he never caught on? He should have known. There were the signs!

A twig snapped in the woods at his side, quickly catching his attention. His heart raced, a bit of hope returning to him. "Dizzy?" He listened as it continued to move, but there was no answer. The movement didn't even sound bipedal after a short while. He felt his nerves find their edge again as he listened, even noticing a dark body moving. He thought it could just be a spirit, but then he saw it move closer, something obviously living.

By his surprise, he saw the dark body of his mare step out of the woods and walk to him. But Dizzy wasn't with her. That only meant one thing. She had been captured—or worse—

He sighed with a heaviness in his heart as the mare approached him, sniffing at his hands as he held them out to her. "You tried," he said to the mare. "You tried."

But did he try hard enough? Apparently not, otherwise Dizzy would have been safe. And it was all his fault.

Ky bunched his fist, knowing damn well he was capable of protecting her. He had done it when that woman in red showed her face, so why not now? How could he have failed?

He stared down the trail and let his eyes follow the tracks left behind. He knew they had been gone for at least a few hours. There was still a chance to find them, though, and save Dizzy before it was too late.

No, there wasn't going to be a _too late_. He wasn't going to fail her this time. He was going to prove that the Gear soldier in him wasn't dead and was willing to do just about anything to obey his new commander.

He snapped a hand to Nora's reins, making the mare jolt at the sudden movement as if she could sense the predator within him. He kept her under control, though, and vaulted himself onto her back, watching her ears twist and flicker nervously.

He booted Nora into a run, with a firm thump against her flanks. He held tight to the reins and pressed his legs against her sides as she galloped fast down the trail and back to the cabin. He didn't even pull her to a full stop by the time he reached it. He ran straight for the front door and for the wrapped sword above the mantle. He nearly leapt for it as he snagged it off the hooks holding the long weapon. His mind was in a jumbled madness as his hands unraveled its shroud.

Inside, he was screaming, his Gear soul was crying out for Dizzy. He could barely stand the separation, like a dog missing its owner. He could already feel the electricity working its way through his veins and nerves and felt his muscles tightening.

He turned his head towards the bedroom in the short hall by his right. He stared at it, as if feeling a calling inside the room. A soldier being called to arms.

He knew what he had to do now.

------

He followed the tracks out the Black Forest and onto a dirt road. There were times he thought he lost the tracks of the men, but he soon found them again, the same number, the same placed weight. One seemed heavier than the rest, and he recalled not seeing a heavy-set man within the group. They were mainly athletic and muscular. It suggested that one had Dizzy and was carrying her.

He stared down on the dirt road under him, the road that would lead him to the suspected town of Dizzy's kidnappers. He recalled passing through a town that followed the same road once before, a name he couldn't remember, or perhaps didn't care to remember. He had passed through it years ago before finding his way to the Black forest, but he never knew it would come back to haunt him. If he only knew a town like that harbored Gear hunters—

He licked his dry lips while his eyes were stiffly fixed to the ground like a submissive servant, but he was far from submissive. He wanted to kill, he wanted to feel that power that fled him ever since he put down his Furaiken. His grip around the reins creaked as his leather gloves squeezed them tightly at the mere thought of killing these people. He would even kill the whole town—

His eyes wandered off the road a moment as he noticed an ghostly image following him. When he turned his head, he saw a figure flanking him, an image he thought he would never see again, but then again, there is was in its resurrection. He stared at his reflection in the puddles of water left by the melting snow at the side of the road. The image never changed. The black Holy Order uniform still held its powerful grace, his face and body barely aged, as if time had never moved for him over the years. The shoulders held their firm shape from the armor under it, the skirt fell flawlessly past his waist, not a wrinkle or flaw despite being hidden away in a box. The gold of his gauntlets, cross and boots stood out from its black contrast as if it had never been used in war. There was not a smudge of dirt or blood on it. It looked the day he first got it. Stolen.

The image brought a grin to his face, remembering the power the outfit brought to him. Without it, he looked merely like a simple man with strange eyes, but with it against his body, he was someone important, even though it was a big lie.

Oh, he couldn't wait. He couldn't wait to see the looks on the townspeople's faces. The great return of a retired Knight—but this was the resurrection of something much more darker.

------

He arrived to the small town by morning, and when he stepped through the gates, it was like stepping back into the Crusades. The people stopped to stare at him as he passed by, a mounted Knight decked in full glory and attire. He held his back straight, the reins held properly in front of his legs like an experienced rider, his head set forward. His skirt was draped behind him and spread across Nora's back. His sword hung at his right side, ready to strike anyone who approached him the wrong way. His hand was itching, but he had to keep up the masquerade. He knew the rules.

He listened to the whispers and mumbling as they watched him ride slowly down the road through their town. The tracks he had been following had disappeared in the chaos and traffic of the little town, covered by footprints, tire marks and scars in the road. But he knew they ended here. She was here somewhere.

He saw some of them coming out of their homes just to look at him. He saw a couple of women with tears in their eyes, and children too young to remember asked who he was. It wasn't too long before they began stepping into the road towards him.

He pulled Nora to a stop and watched as they came closer, but not too close, as if he were a truly sacred thing. His eyes grazed across each face before he spoke. "Where is the Gear?"

They looked just as stupid as most villagers he came across. They looked amongst each other and whispered like before, but this time, he heard the word Gear in their conversations.

"What Gear?" he then heard one woman say.

"There's a Gear being held here," he said. "Now someone tell me where it is."

The crowd went silent a long moment. He only heard a few light whispers.

"The hunters might know," a young man finally said, breaking the awkward silence. Ky squinted through the crowd trying to pinpoint the source of the voice. But then he spotted a face that matched the voice. A young man possibly in his late teens stepped out of the crowd and towards Ky's side. He looked just a couple of years younger than his own face.

"Hunters," he repeated, then licked his dry lips. "Where are they?"

The boy pointed down the road. "You can find them on the southern part of town. It's not too far. Evan Redd is the leader. If you can track one of them down, then you might be able to find out about this Gear."

"Even Redd," he said, musing over the name "I'll remember that name." He looked down on the boy, his face solid and emotionless. "Take me there."

"Sir?"

"I said take me there. Didn't you understand me? I'm sure it would be honorable if you could." He passed him one of his famous fake smiles.

The boy placed a hand at the back of his head, a few fingers scratching his scalp. He looked up at him while a flattered smile upon his face and Ky couldn't have sworn he saw the boy blushing. "Really? Sure! Sure! I'll take you there!" He waved him on as he made a path through the crowd before he lead the way down the road.

------

Something laying in the middle of the road caught his attention, something so minute, so insignificant by the causal eye, he nearly overlooked it. But when he finally brought himself to look at it again, Ky jerked back on the reins suddenly, making Nora rear her head back at the sudden command of her rider. There on the ground laid a small white object, appearing to be nothing but a particle of litter to the unpassionate eye, yet upon closer inspection, he saw it was a white feather. Nora had almost stepped on it. He quickly jumped down off the mare and pushed her over before she could. He picked the delicate feather up between his fingers. He stared at it as he slowly rotated it, studying the feather at all angles.

"Dizzy."

It had to have been Dizzy's. It was too big—and too well groomed to belong to any ordinary bird from around here. Besides, he had never seen a white-feathered bird in this area before. He wasn't going to take it as a coincidence.

He stroked the feather between his fingers before he concealed it in his pants pocket.

"She's here somewhere," he muttered to himself as he looked around.

"Did you say something?" his guide asked after a moment as he watched him. The boy had his back to him, but noticed he had stopped and gotten off his horse.

Ky picked his head up and shook his head. "Nothing. Keep going." He took Nora by the reins again, his other hand clutching Furaiken, and followed the boy again. He caught up to his side, but not too close.

As they walked, he noticed the boy look over his shoulder at him a few times. He had seen that look before. Ky tried to avoid his glances.

"May I ask you a personal question?" the boy asked.

May I ask you a personal question normally meant, May I ask you a stupid question?

"How personal are you trying to get?" Ky asked him in return.

"Your eyes," the boy said. "How did you get eyes like—"

"Don't mind the eyes," he quickly said.

"But they—"

"Don't mind the eyes," he said again.

Thankfully, the boy didn't ask another question. They kept going, all the while Ky still felt the astonished stares of the townspeople on him as they passed. He did his best to keep his head down, his eyes under his hair and followed the boy. They managed to keep him away from any large crowd and to their destination point.

He lead him to a two-story wooden house that looked more than it seemed. There was something about the charming house he didn't like, something he couldn't place right away. It felt like a bad vibe, an instinct calling to him.

He stood there, looking up at the house while the boy who guided him walked up to the front door and rapped his knuckles against it. There wasn't an immediate answer, leaving the two to wait patiently outside.

Ky watched the amber windows and noticed some shifting shadows past the curtains. Ky stuck his hands into his pockets and looked down, idly toeing at the ground while the boy knocked again. He felt his fingers graze against the feather inside his pants pocket, and just as he remembered putting it there, he noticed another on the ground by his feet. This one was smaller. His eyes widened when he saw it.

Then, the door finally opened, but it didn't sway Ky's attention from the white feather on the ground.

"A Holy Knight to see you," his guide said.

Ky kept his head down and attention on the feather while he listened to a pair of heavy boots begin to approach him. He watched as the small feather twitched from the light breeze that brushed up against it, threatening to steal the evidence away from him. He knelt down and picked it up. He didn't dare to twirl this one like he did the other, fearing it would ruin the fragile feather.

"Something catch your attention, sir Knight?"

That voice. Ky had heard it before. It was the hunter who had commanded the boy to strike him in the forest. His eyes widened but he didn't pull his head up yet. Even though he felt such rage, he couldn't give himself away, not in this position. He needed to face his enemy.

He felt his face rush hot and even the corner of his lips twitched. He kept his body from snapping upwards or to show the tenseness in his muscles under his uniform. He kept his eyes on the soft feather between his fingers before he slowly rose to his feet. He kept his head ducked, a fine curtain of mahogany in his face to further conceal his identity.

"What brings you here?"

He caught him dipping down, trying to steal a glance of his face. That was when Ky finally picked his head up and stared into the man's face with his devilish eyes. The man jerked back and gasped when he saw them, unable to tear his own eyes from his familiar face.

"You know damn well what brings me here," Ky snarled. He then lunged forward, grabbing the man by the throat. He forced him back until he pinned him beside the open door. He listened with delight as the man's back collided into the wall with a loud and dull thud. He held him there with his left hand. He kept his grip tight, but not too tight to restrict the airflow to his brain. He needed his brain to tell him where Dizzy was.

Ky was surprisingly able to hold his own with the bigger man, even with one hand, although his arm strained. The man in front of him had a ridged, rugged face, a face he could never forget. His skin was tanned and weathered. His hair was an autumn red, much lighter than Ky's, and even the short beard hanging on his chin and sides of his face was the same shade. He looked like someone with an Scottish descent. He had that old Scotsman build to him. Ky looked nothing but a fresh-faced kid compared to him.

"Hey, what's going on?" the boy said as he watched aside. "What's he done?"

Ky ignored the pest and kept his eyes on the red-haired hunter. He slowly raised his Furaiken and brought the long red blade to the man's thick neck, beginning to press it against his exposed flesh. "Where is she?" he growled through his teeth, then shouted, "_Tell me she's alive_!"

He felt the man swallow, then answer, "She's here."

Then, Ky picked his head up after catching a movement at the corner of his eye. He saw the light from the open door interrupted by the bodies of men as they approached, alerted by his own shouting. He got a brief glimpse inside the house. The den was lit with an illusion of warmth inside, its walls made of polished and stained wood. But it was decorated with grotesque things. He saw shined weapons like axes and swords, but what made his stomach churn was one of the trophy heads mounted on the wall. It wasn't some trophy buck, but a Gear. Ky stared at it, his mouth gaped. He began to lower his arm and loosen his grip around the man's neck.

This wasn't a home but the hunter's station. He had been brought to a place where men plotted, killed and mounted Gear bodies parts like prizes of their great hunt.

Did this mean Dizzy would be their next?

Ky's attention was finally brought back when he saw the group of men running towards him to save their leader. The pounding of their boots made him snap back.

"Evan, what's going on?" one of them said.

The man turned his head slightly towards them. "It's the Gear! It's the Gear! He's come for her!"

The men stopped and stared at him a moment, dressed in a Holy Knights uniform. It almost seemed as if they couldn't remember him at first, but soon, they did.

They suddenly rushed at him, all four of them. Their many hands grabbed for him, even past the blade of his Furaiken as he began to raise it to defend himself.

They grabbed him by the shoulders first. One took him by the arm to keep his sword under control. He growled as he was torn away, with his left hand to vainly grapple at the air. He kept his burning eyes on the one called Evan. His feet struggled to keep the ground under him as the men pushed him away from their leader.

He watched as Evan peeled himself from the wall and bolted to the boy who had guided him. "Ring the bells!"

The boy seemed stunned by his command, and stammered, "B-but we haven't used t-them in y-years."

Evan then pointed his meaty finger back to Ky again. "He's a Gear! You let a Gear in here! Now get someone to guard the posts and ring the damn bells!"

The boy obeyed. He backed up first, staring at the fight a moment before he turned around and ran out of sight.

Ky felt the weight of the men heavier on him, as if one of them were climbing on his light body. His muscles screamed and he felt his knees beginning to buckle. His shoulder hurt and his head was beginning to pound again. He would have swung Furaiken to get them off, but one was holding his sword arm back. His biceps strained to swing forward, but another grabbed his arm as if sensing he was about to strike.

After sending the guide away, Evan turned towards Ky as he men held him. Their eyes met. The hunter's eyes seemed cold and gray. The man walked up to him until they were face to face. All Ky had to do was free a hand and he would have him again.

"It looks like we have two Gears now," he said, grinning.

Ky spat at his face. "Fuck you! You haven't captured both of us."

The man laughed as he wiped his face with the side of his hand. "You're a stupid Gear. What do you think is happening right now?"

"I'm escaping," Ky said, then passed him a wolfish grin.

The man sneered at im. "What? Don't get cocky, Gear."

"Grab his sword," one shouted and went for Furaiken. Ky's grip around the handle instinctively locked. One put his hand on the handle beside his. Ky began to fight harder then. No one touched his sword and got away with it. No citizen were supposed to touch a Holy Knight's weapon.

If he had been a normal man, he would have surrendered by now, outnumbered and out muscled. But he had Gear and Kiske blood in him. He wouldn't give in. A Kiske _and_ a Gear blended together never gave into the enemy.

He felt his veins and skin electrify. He let his magic flow into Furaiken. The one who had his hand on his sword got a jolt from it. The man gasped and stumbled backwards from the sudden charge that hit him.

Ky didn't stop there.

He grabbed the wrist of another hunter that had his hand around his arm. He sent a charge of his magic into the man's body that attacked his nerves and heart. The man dropped straight to the ground with a scream, curling himself into a fetal position. He was shaking.

He turned his head to the remaining man who had his filthy hands on his uniform. The instant he made eye contact with him, the man, who looked just a few years older than his own face, unlatched his hands from his shoulder and backed up, his palms out to him. His folding made Ky grin.

"Good," he said, then turned his head over his shoulder as he heard footsteps behind him. He saw one trying to sneak up behind him, possibly planning on jumping on him from behind.

No, that wasn't the plan.

By the time Ky saw the dagger in his hand, he swung, aiming for his throat. Ky ducked back, nearly feeling the air that followed his quick slice. He hadn't even been scratched, but he had been less than an inch away from it.

Too bad he was just using a blade.

Ky took a sidestep and circled his arm in the air in front of him quickly, then thrusted his hand through the circle his magic created. From his hand and out the center of the electric came a large arrow formed from his magic. "Sacred Edge!" The man across from him, who stood merely two steps away from him barely had a chance to react—or no chance at all. He watched how the arrow hit him, nearly exploding against his chest and sent him flying backwards into the ground. He slid a bit on his back.

"Gear!" Evan snapped at him.

Just as he wanted, it got his attention. Ky turned his head and stared at the red-haired man.

"You don't want me to kill them, do you?" Ky said.

Evan frowned.

"I'll call it off when you tell me where she is," he said. "And when you give her back to me, it'll be all over. Got it?"

"No deal," the man said.

"Then this isn't over. Don't be surprised if one of your men die." He grinned.

It was more than an empty threat. And Evan knew it. Well, if he didn't take him seriously. . . .

"If you even think about—"

Ky shook his head. "I'm not thinking about it," he said. "I plan on it."

He turned his eye at the corner where he noticed a movement by his feet. He looked down to see one of the men on the ground grab him by the boot. He seemed to be the only one ready to fight him again—besides Evan Redd, even if he had sent a couple of volts through him.

Ky merely grinned and threw his other boot into the man's face. He hit him with the back of his heel. Evan's eyes watched the act and began to step forward, as if he were about to attack him. Ky held a gloved hand out to halt him. "Tend to your men," he said. "After that, you come find me. We'll talk."

Ky then turned, bolting his way from the group that came uncomfortably close from capturing him. He saw the one he pounded into the ground with his Sacred Edge climb to his feet and attempted to stand in his way. The man's bravery was simply swiped away with a shove. The man collapsed back into the ground while Ky ran into the streets like a tomcat. He kept his legs going until he knew the hunters wouldn't follow.

They never did.

Ky finally wound down as he made his way into another alley. He stopped and leaned his back against the wall, meanwhile, he placed Furaiken's sinister tip to the ground. His heart still pounded and his nerves were still electrified. He massaged his gloved hands into one another to try to ease his magic. His fingers were cold but his palms were still heated.

Then, he heard the bells ring.

He tilted his head back and listened to their frantic warning. It echoed through the entire town. He hadn't heard the sound in years.


	8. Officer Kiske

"You men alright? Anyone hurt?" 

Evan watched as his men began to pick themselves up from the ground after the Gear's attacks. He didn't expect him to be so strong. He looked too light, too human to be that powerful. The Gear had fooled him.

They climbed to their knees, some staggering. One helped pick the other up by the arm. He watched one man pick himself up and throw up blood onto the ground.

"Yeah," one said. "We're okay over here."

"Jag, you alright?" Evan walked to the man on his knees who had thrown up. He was one of his strongest fighters and yet here he was throwing up blood after getting hit by magic. The Gear must have hit him with his most powerful attack, with an arrow ironically. The Gear must have sensed more than a shock would knock the man down.

Jag spit more blood from his mouth before he wiped the corner of his mouth and looked up at him. He was a tall man, taller than him. He had short brown hair in a military cut and bright green eyes. He shook his head. "I can't go after him. He hit me too hard." He spat out some more blood.

"No one's going after him," Evan said, and held out a hand to him. "The way he ran off like that, he's expecting us to chase him."

"He was wearing a Holy Knight's uniform," one said. "What was he doing with that?"

"I don't know," Evan said while he pulled Jag to his feet. "A trick. He's a smart Gear, I'll give him that. He seems naive, though. He's gotta be a young one." He frowned and looked to the front door. He didn't want to think of how close the Gear had been to finding what he came for. "You men get inside. We need to move the female. He might come back if he figures it out where we've had her here."

He patted Jag on the back and gave him a light push towards the door. Slowly, the taller man began to lumber his way back inside. Evan placed his hands on his hips and stared down the direction where the humanoid Gear escaped, then looked around himself. He soon noticed a dark bay mare standing nearby, reins but no saddle.

Narrowing his eyes, he walked to the mare, which seemed fairly tame. She let him take the reins but tried to pull away a bit.

"This his?" he asked the group beginning to make their way inside. At least two of them stopped and looked back at him.

One shrugged. "I don't know. I guess."

"Ours now," the other man said with a grin.

"Yeah," Evan said and put his hand on the mare's neck. "Must be." He turned his head to the two. "Rene, take the horse to the stables. Like Kain said, she's ours now."

Then, the bells rang, frantic and loud. He felt the mare pull at the noise, but he kept the mare under control before she could panic. He patted the horse's neck to try to calm her while he listened to the warning bells. He hadn't heard them since the Crusades and it felt like going back in time at the sound of them.

He watched as some lights came on and a few people stepped outside, despite the warning. Before, people would have scattered for shelters and locked their doors, now they looked out their doors curiously like it was a fire nearby instead of the warning of a Gear raid.

While he passed the mare to Rene, he saw a man make his way out of his home a few paces away from the station and move towards him. He was in his robe, his hands in his pockets, slippers on his feet. His arms hugged his body as he made his way towards him. "Evan, what's going on? Why are the bells going off? Is there a Gear here?"

"Yeah," he said flatly. "There's two of them. One of them made it into the streets. Want me to tell you what he looks like?" He grinned.

------

He yawned and scratched at his thigh. He had been called a madman, even by his own men, for going to the Black Forest, which he had been told was haunted before he left. Haunted or not, there was a reported Gear in that forest, and he was going to see if it was true or not. After hearing a woman's story of being attacked by a hostile Gear, he had to see what was really there. He insisted on going alone, but he came prepared.

His grip around Furaiken loosened but he caught it the moment he began to feel it slip from his glove. He jerked it back in a tighter grip while the leather of his gloves reasserted itself around the blue handle again.

_I almost dropped her._ He rubbed at his eyes. _I'm tired. But even when I was tired during the Crusades I never came that close to dropping her. But then again, I was never alone._

He looked down on the moving ground from under him, eyeing the trail a moment from atop his horse. They were still on the trail, thank God. For a brief moment he thought he had gone off the trail, but no, it was still under him. Good old Indigo wouldn't let him go off course. The only reason he brought the stallion was because he was told the best way to go through these woods was on horseback. He heard it was near impossible on foot. And dangerous.

He was actually glad he brought the stallion. He hadn't rode him in a long time. He had him since the war, but didn't retire him. The stallion was now a mounted police horse.

He pulled his head back and laughed at the oddity of it. He, a Holy Knight had turned police officer himself. He supposed he wanted his trusty steed to come with him.

He slapped himself across the cheek after catching himself laughing at that.

If he was this tired, then how would he stand a chance against the rumored Gear if he did find it?

_I'm not going to stop to rest that's for sure_, he told himself. _Not yet._

He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, remembering how those long trips during the Crusades just battered his mind and body, how he would sometimes find himself falling asleep on Indigo's back, managing to sit upright or slumped slightly over the back of his neck. Oh how this very trip reminded him of those days. . . .

He found himself almost nodding off, and snapped his head up again until he nearly gave himself whiplash. "Ow." He placed a hand at the back of his neck and rubbed it.

After a while, his ears began to pick up a sound that reminded him of running water. It turned him a bit more alert, tempting him with the promise of cold water that would wake him, but he still remained on the trail. There was no use to go off the trail and get lost. But the more he rode on, the louder it became, the crystalline sound of water running against the rocks.

_A stream somewhere._ He had recalled hearing of a stream in the woman's story. She said the Gear had thrown her in it.

He narrowed his burning his eyes and looked around himself, trying to pinpoint its exact location. He was close now. He knew it. But it sounded like it was coming from all around him. He turned his head in every which direction.

"You hear that, Indy?"

He was tempted to go off the trail to find it, but the woman had told him that if he followed the trail it would lead him straight to the place where she found the Gear. He frowned, but let himself listen to rationality. He was almost there. He had to be patient.

He squinted as he saw a glimmer of light within the woods at his side. He thought at first it was just a patch of snow, but it was shining like moonlight dancing on water's surface. And that's what it was. His eyes widened with relief when he finally realized what it was.

"There it is."

He slipped down Indigo's back and walked off the trail, towards the glimmer. It had been the stream he heard, and possibly the one the woman had talked about. His boots nearly slipped on the ice that had formed around the edge of the stream, but he kept his footing. He took half a step back to keep himself from falling on the ice and making an ass of himself, and crouched down. He placed his weapon beside him before he removed his gloves and stuck his hands into the icy water, cupping them to collect a handful of it. He brought his hands up and splashed the water into his face. He gasped at the cold that struck his face like a hammer and closed his eyes. When he did, he heard a twig snap from behind him.

He jerked his head over his shoulder with his face dripping of water. It made him look like he was sweating. "Indy?" His eyes searched through the dark woods.

He didn't see the horse, but he had a feeling the cause of the sound was the stallion. No need to get fired up yet.

He looked down on Furaiken beside him before he reached his hands down into the stream again to collect another handful to ease his dry mouth. As he moved his hands down to the water, he caught a menacing reflection over his shoulder. It seemed to just appear there, its dark face staring down on him. It was neither man or any animal he had ever seen. He wasn't sure what it was at first. Its head was long and narrow like a deer, with horns curving forward from the sides of its head. Its red eyes stared down on him as if it were waiting for the right moment to snap its jaws into him. He got a glimpse of white, jagged teeth.

He quickly snatched up his sword by the handle, and with a pivot of his shoulders, he swung the blade. But when he swiped at the air, there was nothing behind him at all. There was no monster, no Gear, nothing but air.

He blinked as he looked behind himself, then down on the ground. There were no tracks or any sign an animal had been there behind him.

"Indy?"

It couldn't have been Indigo. Indigo didn't look like that, not even in a wavering reflection. Not even the water could distort his looks so he came out looking like some devil. He placed a hand upon his face and shook his head. Had he imagined it?

_I'm tired but not insane._

He stood up and looked around him. Still no sign.

He licked his lips before he turned around and headed back to the trail. When he finally set foot back on the trail again, he heard something that reminded him of a howl of laughter. _"Hhaaa!"_

He snapped himself around, his uniform twisting a moment as he spun around. Nothing was behind him, but he felt something was here.

Was this the Gear the woman was talking about?

Something told him it wasn't.

If there had been a Gear behind him, it would have attacked him the moment he saw its reflection. Gears didn't play mind-games. They just attacked. And most of all, they didn't just vanish out of thin air.

He shook his head and looked down the trail. He saw Indigo grazing by the side of the broken trail, completely oblivious to what had happened. He clenched his jaw and his grip around Furaiken tightened as he went for his horse. He pulled on his reins and hurled himself upon the saddle again. He pulled the horse's head up, and by then, he heard another, _"Hhaaa!"_

He looked around quickly, waiting for something to come out of those woods after him. He even heard something moving, twigs and branches breaking from under a moving body. His heart began to pound, and his eyes searched for whatever it was, but he couldn't see it—whatever it was.

He swallowed and even began to consider that maybe this place was haunted after all. There was definitely something in these woods—

_"Hhaaa!"_

As his eyes searched for the source of the voice, he then heard a low howl echo through the woods on the other side of him. He snapped his head around and cast his eyes towards the bare trees. His heart seemed to jump up his throat. "Shit." He looked back and forth to his left then his right over and over, just waiting to see something step out of those woods.

Silence returned.

He couldn't help but feel a bad vibes about this place. But he couldn't let whatever was in those woods get to him. He had to continue his mission.

He swallowed hard, and signaled Indigo forward. "Come on, Indy." He kept his eyes out on both sides of him, but thankfully, the sounds never came back, and whatever was in there didn't follow. It left him to follow the rest of the trail. It lead him to the clearing the woman had talked about. He looked down as Indigo approached an old but stable bridge that crossed the stream and back to solid ground again. He looked around himself, marking the woods on his left with his eyes, the stream before it, the exact same stream the woman had reported being thrown in, and another patch of woods ahead of him.

He soon turned his head to a small cabin. The woman had mentioned that, too. He had asked her if anyone lived there but she never gave him a straight answer.

"Hmm." He eyed it before he slid off of Indigo's back, with the bottom of his boots landing upon a patch of half melted snow. He slid his free hand off of the saddle and began to step away from the bay stallion.

His eyes became fixed upon the charming cabin a few meters away from him. He studied it a moment from a distance, trying to determine from his position if anyone lived there or not. He couldn't tell. There was just one way to find out.

He started towards it and stopped before the front door. He knocked, but didn't receive an answer. He listened for movement, and heard nothing.

He sighed and rested a hand against the knob. He stared down on it, and while biting his lower lip, he gave it a light twist.

It gave. As soon as he knew it, the door opened, showing him the inside of the cabin. Well, if no one lived here, then it wasn't home invasion. And besides, he was a police officer. He had the badge to prove it. There would be no problems.

"Hello? Anyone here? Police."

Upon stepping inside, he noticed the cabin wasn't vacant. It was lightly furnished and neatly kept. He saw in the den, a silhouette of a stuffed chair. A darkened hearth was nearby it, against the wall, with dead ashes inside its belly. A small stack of wood sat nearby. The walls and floors were bare otherwise. But there was something that stood out to his police instincts. It drew him near.

He walked closer to the hearth and looked up above the mantle where two hooks curved out of the wall like talons. He narrowed his eyes then looked down on a white sheet that laid on the floor by his feet. It seemed out of place laying there.

He looked around again. "Anyone here?"

He turned his head and looked down into a narrow and short hallway that lead to an open door. He gave his winter dry lips a coat of his tongue before he started towards it, and went inside. His eyes struggled for light. The window on the side of the room wasn't enough to let him see the details, just like the den.

Maybe there was a light somewhere. He reached an arm around and felt upon the wall.

Nothing there.

He inhaled deeply before venturing further into the dark room. It wasn't long before he tripped over something, nearly sending him flailing to the floor. He caught himself, thankfully, with one hand grappling whatever he had tripped over. His fingers explored the edges of it a moment, then wandered into the bottom. An empty wooden box.

Well, he wasn't going to get anywhere fast by poking around in the dark, so he carefully stood up and went for the open doorway and ventured back into the den. He found himself eyeing up the mantle. He reached a bare hand up and felt along the edge of it, finding it surprisingly clean, no dust or dirt. His hand soon bumped against something and let his hand grapple it, feeling what seemed like a small box. He shook it, and listened to the contents clatter against one another. His lips formed into a smile. A match box.

He slid it open and picked out a match stick. A finger felt against the edge of the box, then gave it a strike. Sparks flew against the edge of the box, and the tip of the match came to life with a tiny flame. His eyes focused as light surrounded the flame. He looked around himself with help of the flame, walking around the den and even into the neighboring kitchen. Someone had been here. It was too clean and kept to have been vacant for years. There was no dirt.

But had this person witnessed the attack?

He struck another match against the box after the first went out.

He had a feeling the owner of this cabin had seen something. He wondered if he had seen the Gear he had been sent here for.

_No use waiting. I could find myself waiting for days, even months, if I'm lucky._

Now what?

_Keep looking,_ he told himself.

With that decision working itself in his head, he blew the dying match out and snapped the box closed. He returned it to the mantle and headed for the door. As he made it outside again, he heard a low, deep howl in the woods across from him, the same sort of howl he had heard before. He found himself staring at the trees.

He stood there, as if waiting for something to step out of those woods. That howl, he had never heard anything howl like that before. Not a wolf, not even a Gear.

"What are you?" he whispered to the woods, his eyes narrowing.

He stared into those dark woods for a long moment until the thing stopped. Only the sounds of the crickets and the wind brushing through the trees remained.

He sighed and shook his head. "A place like this, I don't see how a man can stay sane."

Just then, he found himself thinking of that thing he saw in the water's reflection as he stepped away from the cabin. Just what was that thing?

He suddenly stopped in his tracks as he thought, "What if that was the thing that attack her?" He slid his hands into his pockets. "She could have mistaken it for a Gear. It was near here. She never said what this Gear looked like. What if. . ."

It had to been. It almost had the look of a Gear, even if he hadn't gotten a full glimpse of it, only its head. That hideous gray head, those horns. . . It was small, but he had seen Gears the size of elk and deer before. Not all of them were ten times his size.

"Had to been. Right?"

He glanced toward his horse which was nosing around the grass.

"There are no Gears here," he said aloud, looking like he was talking to his horse. "Just that. . .whatever it was. Did you see it, Indy?" He watched as the horse continued to graze. He smiled. "Of course you didn't."

He took a step back and sat down on a step to the cabin, and rested his arms against his knees. He ducked his head moment, with a curtain of light blonde hair falling in his face. He sighed, watching his breath frost and drift from his mouth. "False alarm." He laughed lightly. "Thank God." He looked up to his horse again. "Let's get out of here, Indy."


	9. I Met My Devil

He studied the map he had collected before his trip, the only thing keeping him from losing himself in these woods. He squinted through the dark, trying to get a good look at the markings and the aerial drawings on the map, but it still blurred into unrecognizable blobs and lines. He bit his lip as he drew his face closer to the paper. 

"Let's see," he said to himself. "What's the nearest village?"

God, he was ready to go back home and get some rest. Tonight, he would be content if he could find the closest town and get some sleep before heading back to Paris. But seeing in this dark was near impossible.

"I can't make anything out. Is this a village?" He squinted his eyes at a penned square, but with the light, it was almost impossible to make it out what it really was. He bit his tongue as he tried to focus. He could barely even see the dark triangular sketches trees that made up the markings of the Black Forest.

He picked his head up, looked back down on the map, then picked his head up again. Well, he could always keep following the trail until he found one of the villages he passed before he found the path to the Black forest. If he could wait that long. Camping out in the woods was out of the question, not with that thing in the woods. He wasn't up to another confrontation.

He moaned and let his head lower until his chin nearly touched his chest. He didn't even mind the strain at the back of his neck. He just couldn't bring himself to keep his head up anymore. Or his eyes open.

He must have fell asleep only a few minutes by the time he heard something in the woods. The moment it registered in his ears and into his brain, he snapped his head up and suddenly recollected his grip on Furaiken balanced across his lap. His other hand squeezed the reins and the map.

His mind quickly focused and listened as something moved through the woods behind him, but it sounded too big to be a harmless deer or fox. It moved fast, with branches, twigs and bushes breaking under its feet. A four footed creature, heavy it sounded. And he didn't like it. He turned his head to see a few bushes give and collapse to the ground, all the while it moved towards him.

Then, more branches broke on the other side of him, ahead this time. He snapped his attention towards the sound. This one's gait seemed slower than the other's, like a stalking cat, careful how it placed itself. But it never stopped.

Slowly, those sounds came closer to him. And then—he heard laughter. It was different than the strange howl he heard. It sounded like a woman's high pitched cackle. It even sounded like it was coming from the air above the trees. He looked up, but saw nothing.

He shook his head and turned his head back over his shoulder again to the thing coming after him from behind. It was getting closer, while saplings and bushes were plowed over in its wake. And the other—

His heart began pounding in his chest. His grip around Furaiken tightened. He was falling into an ambush.

"Shit. Surrounded."

He looked over his shoulder over and over, but fighting began to sound like the second thing he wanted to do. Just what would he be fighting? Could it be true that this place was haunted?

His grip around Indigo's reins tightened and he booted him into a run. But he didn't run him straight into the path of the other, he bolted into the woods, just cutting across the one behind him. He passed a quick glance over his shoulder, but he didn't see anything pursuing him. All he saw were the sight of falling trees and bushes just like he had seen from the path. There was no creature, just air. It was as if the woods were alive and chasing him.

He snapped his head back around and continued through the woods, holding tight to Indigo. His face was assaulted by fingers of branches and the wind as the horse flew through the woods. He had to duck a few branches that came at his head like an outstretched hand. He kept his knees close to the stallion's body, his hand holding tight to the reins and—

He felt the fragile, half crumpled paper of the map slip out from under his hand and fly into the air. He couldn't even spare the moment to attempt to catch it; it was already too vain to try. "Shit!" he grumbled through his teeth, but soon turned his head forward again.

His ears were filled with the sound of Indigo's hooves pounding the ground and the snapping of branches and trees behind him. He couldn't bring himself to look behind him again. He didn't want to see how close the thing was to touching him. Thankfully, Indigo was fast enough to keep out of its reach. He may have been a retired war horse, but he was still fast as he had always been. If he could face a Gear, he could carry his rider from this evil.

Past his horse's head, he saw the ground dip, making it seem it was a sheer drop. "Indy—"

It was too late to pull back. Indigo made the plunge and galloped down a slope almost full speed. He instinctively leaned back and pressed the balls of his feet into the stirrups harder. His knees squeeze the horse's body, trying to keep himself planted in his saddle while the stallion headed for the bottom. Indigo leapt for the ground, jolting his light rider.

He suddenly felt his body falling forward, his hands and knees struggling to hang on, but the violent movement caught him off guard. The last thing he knew, he was falling to the ground, into a half tumble. He landed on his side, with pain shooting up his hip to his legs.

He had never dropped Furaiken on the fall. It was still clenched in his hand, as if waiting to defend its owner. As soon as he found himself in one piece still, he turned his head up to the woods. He waited for the trees to come crashing down after him, but it never did. The woods sat there in silence.

He laid there a moment, waiting, watching it until he sat up. He never took his eyes off the woods atop that hill.

When his hand touched the ground, his fingers took in its texture. It was stony like a paved road. He looked down and ran his gloved hand against the ground, feeling the individual stones shifting and rolling upon one another.

"A road," he muttered, then looked up at his horse which stood a few paces from him. It almost seemed too coincidental that they come upon the road like this that would deter whatever was in the woods to stop chasing them. It almost seemed as if Indigo knew it would be their only barrier.

He stared up at the woods looming above him, making sure it would stay motionless before he stood up, shaking his head. He knew Indigo was smart, but he didn't want to push it. He brushed himself off before he made his way to the stallion.

He took him by the reins. "Well, at least we're out of those woods." He patted his hand against the stallion's muscular neck, then cast his eyes down the road. What was the saying? All roads lead to somewhere. And he had a feeling this one would lead him to town. Eventually. His hands took a hold of the horn, and hoisted himself back onto the saddle. A quick sharp pain shot down the side of his leg a moment before it settled back down.

"Let's get out of here," he sighed and guided the stallion down the road.

------

The road lead him to town within an hour, with him dozing off here and there. He was as wide awake as he could get by the time he reached the town's gates. But something seemed odd. The gates were closed. He found himself staring at the heavy wooden gates a moment before he craned his head back and looked up towards the posts above it. There were torches glowing above, giving the postmasters (as they were normally called by the Holy Knights) and him the only source of light against the dead of the night. But why were the torches burning?

He guided Indigo closer to the gate doors and positioned himself until he was right beside it. He then knocked his fist against the gate as hard as he could. "Hello? Anyone here? Is anyone here?" He stared up at the posts on each side of the gate, staring at the flames of the torches.

No one appeared, leaving the young man to stick his fingers into his mouth and whistle.

"Hello? Anyone!"

The sharp noise finally stirred one of the postmasters. He saw the one on the right lean down from his post, his body highlighted by the torch, but he couldn't make out any details. He did however see a quiver pack strapped across his shoulder. He watched how he looked down on him, then looked over to the other man in the other post, who made his appearance once he saw his partner point him out. "Hey, there's a rider down there."

"You better not come in here." the other said. "Turn back if you know what's good for you."

Indigo shifted from under him, but he kept the stallion in position. "Why's that? Is your town in lock down?"

"Yeah," the one on the left said. "There's a Gear in here. We've been in lock down for a few hours now."

His heart jumped. Had he been wrong about his assumption? "A Gear? Open your gates! Let me help you." He backed Indigo up with a signal of his reins, letting the men above him get a better look at him, hoping they would see him as the warrior he was. He then raised his arm over his head that held Furaiken, with the blade going several feet over his head. He then sent a charge of his magic through the sacred weapon, lighting the white blade and the air around it with the electricity. It became his own torch.

He watched how the men leaned over their posts at him and his magnificent sword. They stared in awe for a few seconds before passing each other glances. It didn't take them long to make their decision.

"Sure, sure! Come in!" the one on the right said. "But we won't be held responsible if anything happens to you."

He smiled up at the man. "Don't worry. I can handle a Gear."

_It's probably disoriented and confused,_ he said to himself.

He watched the right postmaster step down his post and out of sight behind the large gates. The other watched him from above while his partner made his way back down to the surface and began to unhinge the bar from the other side of the gate. He listened as the man grunted as he slid the bar back with all his strength, then began to slide one side of the gate open enough for a man to pass though. It was far enough for a man his size, but—

He stared back at the older man through the gap. He must have been somewhere in his late thirties, with a grizzled face and gray speckled in his beard. "I need enough space so my horse can fit, too. I'm not leaving him out here."

The man sighed at his request, but obeyed his wish, thankfully. "Alright, hang on." He ducked behind the gate while he pulled the door open a bit more. Slowly, it gaped more until it was wide enough for Indigo to fit through. He guided the horse through, watching his knees so they wouldn't smack against the wooden gate and leave a good bruise. He squeezed them in, just barely getting through.

By the time he and Indigo passed through, the postmaster closed it behind him, grunting, straining, and slid the bar back over the front of the gate. He saw the man sweating when he turned back around, leaning on the gate, his heels dug into the ground.

"Alright?" he asked him.

"Yeah," the man said and wiped his sleeve across his brow. "I just hadn't done that in a while. I guess I'm not twenty anymore." He laughed.

He smiled in return, but soon turned his head to look at the town. The buildings and homes were quiet and darkened against the ambient, nearly every window blackened in the void. No one was in the streets. It was quiet, too quiet for his liking. It reminded him all too much of the Crusades.

"Kind of reminds you of the old days, huh?"

The man's voice nearly jolted him out of his thoughts. He turned his head around and looked at him.

"We even rang the bells when it started. A boy came over here and said to ring the bells, that a Gear was in the town. This was several hours ago. There's hunters here, but I guess they haven't caught it yet." The postmaster pushed himself off the gate. "You know, I even heard that another Knight came through here today."

His eyes widened. "What?"

"Yeah. I heard that someone dressed in a Sacred Order outfit like yours came in here around the time the Gear did. Maybe he was looking for the Gear, too. But I don't know, I hadn't seen him." The man shrugged.

"Someone of the Order?" he mused aloud. "But why would anyone be wearing something of the Order?"

"Maybe you should ask yourself that," the postmaster said and pointed a finger at him, chuckling lightly. It made him look down on himself, down on the uniform he had yet to retire. There were some occasions that he did wear it, occasions like these, where the armor was needed and the sense of authority. Sometimes a Gear would recognized the outfit—

He just passed the man a nervous grin before turning his head back around. "I'll help you get this Gear. It'll be over soon, then your people can rest easy."

_Then maybe I can, too._

He soon started into the silent town, slowly heading into the heart of it. His senses took in everything, his body feeling and watching every moment, his ears tuned to any sounds finding its way to him. He watched a few darkened windows watching him like dull, empty sockets of a skull. Not a living being stirred or dared to come out of hiding. It reminded him all too much of the Crusades— It was eerie.

The streets was hushed at the witness of him. It felt like ghosts inhabited the town than men and women, and the postmasters had never been real. The only sound that he heard was the sound of Indigo's hooves clopping against the road under him. His eyes burned for the sight of someone, a voice, a glimpse, anything—

His eyes did begin to burn. Something in the distance was burning. A small light. A torch.

He squinted his eyes as he saw it, just a small glimpse of bright light at the corner of a building. The body holding it was blocked by the wall. A small, weak smile began to cross his lips as he began to see a hint of civilization. Bodies in the street. Live men.

He guided Indigo towards them. As he moved towards that light, he heard a man shout from his side, "Hey! There he is! There's the Gear!"

He turned his head to his left down into an alley where a man was standing, pointing a finger towards him. Thinking he was pointing to an hidden enemy, he quickly turned his head around, trying to spot some beast, but he saw nothing.

"The Gear! The Gear!"

"What are you—" he began, but soon turned his attention forward again as he saw a group begin to make their way towards him, in a full run. There must have been at least fifteen of them by the time they neared him. Many of them were armed. There were burning torches, axes, maces, blades and even arrows within the group. They surrounded him, but he didn't find any hospitality among their faces or body language.

"It's the Gear! Kill him!"

"What?" he muttered as he looked among them.

"Get 'im!"

The man who shouted those words seemed to sound the attack. They began to swarm him, raising their weapons, some even makeshift. Their hands grabbed for him, trying to pull him off of Indigo. The stallion shifted, and his rider fought back, shoving them as they tried to grab him, even his arm that held the fantastic Outrage.

"Get off me!" he screamed.

He kicked one right square in the head.

"I'm a police officer!"

The men continued to attempt to pull him off his horse, though. One had a rather good grip around his right arm that held his sword. Oh God, he couldn't let that man ply it from his hand— He pulled on his reins, trying to keep his horse steady. He had been swarmed by Gears before, but never by men.

"That's what you say," one said to him. He was right beside him, looking up at him. "First you're a Holy Knight, now you're a police officer. Make up your mind what you want to masquerade yourself as, Gear."

"I'm not a Gear!" he shouted and kicked the man across the face. The force threw the man to the ground, holding his face. He saw blood.

He soon turn his attention away from the man. He knew he couldn't waste anymore time here, not around all these armed men. He didn't want to hurt anyone, even if he had possibly broken one man's nose. Well, he brought that on himself. He was going to fight back, not act like a pacifist.

He firmly planted both feet into his stirrups and thrust his heels against Indigo's flanks. He braced himself as the bay stallion lunged forward, his ears pinned as he forced a path for them both. The horse plowed over a few men and forced his muscular body past the others. The men still attempted to attack him, raising their weapons, shouting. One even hit him against the knee with something, a baton or a staff maybe. A sharp pain ran across the bone of his knee, but he didn't care about the pain at all. All he worried about was getting the hell away from that mob.

He looked over his armored shoulder at them as he fled, with those torches looking less menacing the farther he distanced himself from them. He pulled right on the reins and guided Indigo into an alley. He moved fast through the streets, the wind hitting his scratched face.

He ran a good few minutes, and soon found the streets empty again in another sector of the town. He pulled Indigo to a walk, where he leapt off the stallion's back and landed skillfully on his feet. His body protested against the feat but didn't fail him. His body was too young and well taken care of to start protesting yet. He had a few years until then.

He pointed a finger over to the side as he began to run past the stallion, and commanded, "Away, Indy." He left the horse to roam on himself. It would make a good diversion to that mob who were still looking for him. They would chase after Indigo while he could try to make sense of his nonsense.

The horse did as told and wandered off into he streets, while the rider slipped into another alley to hide himself from any eyes that would recognize him. But someone did.

Just as he neared the end of the alley, a figure ran into sight across from him, halting in his tracks the moment he saw him. He stopped with his feet spread to catch himself. The officer stopped as well, but the one across from him wasn't what he was expecting. He looked like no villager here. The man was dressed in a dark Holy Order uniform. His hair was a dark mahogany, but maybe it was a light brown; he couldn't tell much by the limited light. But as his eyes focused on his face, something didn't seem right.

The mahogany-haired man stared at him more like a criminal being caught in the act than a fellow man of the Order.

"Shit!"


	10. Existance

Things had gone fine until now, until he met _him_, the oh-so-righteous Ky Kiske. It was a day he fretted after his defect. He thought living in his solitude would prevent him from ever crossing the man's path, but that assumption was wrong. Here he was, staring at the source of his unholy creation. His brain scrambled for something to say, but his mind was a blank void. 

His creators had been accurate, save for a few minor faults. The two were the exact same height, the exact same build, their facial features identical. One could easily mistake them for twins. The only difference between the two was that their colors were off; hair, eyes, even their uniforms.

They stared at each other a long moment, the blonde a few paces across from him standing there with his mouth open. It was as if he had to take a moment to figure out what was standing before him.

Ky thought about bolting, his leg muscles already flexed and poised, but his original pointed a finger at him before he could make an escape. "You!" he snapped. "What are you doing here?"

Ky swallowed hard and let his crimson eyes dart before he let them settle on the agitated man's face again. By the tone of his voice, it sounded as if he were already been familiar with him, like he had been looking for him.

Had he? Had he finally found out about his secretive existence? Was it why he was here?

"Answer me!"

"I—" He shook his head. What was he supposed to say?

As he opened his mouth again to answer, he paused, hearing voices in the street. His keen ears tuned towards the sounds past his original. "I think I saw him go this way," a faint voice said in the distance.

His face ran hot a moment at the sound of those words. Even his original turned his head over his shoulder towards the voices, then looked at him again. "Why are they after me?" he asked with his eyes narrowed.

"They think you're me."

"I know that now," his original grumbled. "What did you do?"

Ky waved his hands in front of him and shook his head. "There's no time to explain. We've got to get moving before they do find us. They've already got mobs in the street looking for me."

He paused then. _Wait, did I just say we?_

"I know," his original said and glanced over his shoulder again.

"Well you can stand in this alley all you want," Ky said. "But I'm getting out of here before they find me."

He began to start off, but with one quick movement, his original stepped after him. He grabbed him by the arm in a hard grapple. His fingertips dug into his arm where his heavy gauntlet didn't touch. It almost hurt the way he had his hand wrapped around his forearm.

"You're not going to run off like that," his original said with a slight up-curl forming on his lips. "I'm going with you."

"Then start running," he said, and started down the alley, pulling his original along. The blonde's grip remained around his arm and didn't let go until a few more strides.

The both of them slunk into the streets like a pair of tomcats, with his original right at his side. He could see him staring at the side of his face through the corner of his eye time to time. It was nerve-wracking, but Ky managed to keep himself under control. Considering the circumstances, he wasn't sure how he was doing it.

They slipped into another alleyway, trying to distance themselves from the approaching mob. He could sense them, but they were far away enough to keep them from being spotted. But he knew he couldn't do this all night. He had been doing this for a couple of hours now.

He ducked a metal latter hanging above him against a wall, with it coming inches from hitting him in the head. He didn't need another strike to his skull. But he paused after he passed under it and looked behind himself at the object. The blonde behind him had to take a step back to avoid it as well. Ky although kept his eyes on the weathered latter that lead the way up to the roof.

He looked left and right. "Up here," he whispered, then hoisted himself up, with one hand gripping the first bar, while the other held his sword. He adjusted the weapon in his right hand so he could grip the edge of the latter with a few fingers.

Slowly, he climbed up it. Kiske followed soon after the same way.

As they climbed, he could hear the voices of the men in the street, and then the thunder of footsteps moving into the alley. Ky didn't force himself to rush though, he didn't want to drop Furaiken and he didn't want to drop himself, either.

He nearly threw himself onto the rooftop once he found the last bar. By the time his original pulled himself over the edge, a small mob of men, with lit torches in a few of their hands passed under them, completely oblivious that the one they were looking for were right above them. Ky watched and smiled.

"They'll never figure to look up," Ky said as he watched them. "One thing about mobs is that they're not that bright. They lack the organization." And with that, he turned, heading for the other side of the roof. His original, though, didn't seem too pleased that he was getting away from him.

"You!" the man snapped. "Stop right there!"

Slowly, Ky stopped and looked over his shoulder at him. "My name isn't you by the way."

His original's lips turned down. It was a look that could send chills down another man's spine, but Ky didn't feel a thing over the man's icy stare. "Then what do you expect me to call you?"

"Ky," he said. "Just call me Ky."

His lips curled. "I will not."

Ky rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine then. Call me you for all I care." He shrugged and turned his back on the man and continued his way to another side of the roof. He laid a hand upon the cold stone of the three foot barrier while the other held the handle of his Furaiken tightly. He drew it closer to himself as he looked down on the empty streets below.

"Where do you think you're going?" his original said, coming closer.

"Nowhere," he said as he looked down. "Yet."

He felt the man standing behind him, staring at him with those icy blue eyes. He saw them at the back of his mind.

"Put your weapon down, and step away from it," he heard him command.

Surprisingly, Ky didn't give up much of a fight. With a sigh, he released his hand from the warmed handle of Furaiken and let it clattered to the ground. But he didn't step away from it as Kiske wanted. He stepped on the blade instead so the man wouldn't take it away from him. He still needed it. He needed it to fight for Dizzy.

"I said stop away from it."

Ky looked over his shoulder and shook his head at him. "I still need it." He then pressed both hands against the stone in front of him and leaned forward, his shoulder blades pushing out. He felt the wind brushing up against his capelette and skirt.

For a long moment, the two were silent. His original didn't speak, didn't try to get anything out of him as he watched him. He _felt_ him watching him.

"Explain yourself," he finally said.

Ky dropped his shoulders and head. A thick layer of hair went in his face, tickling his chilled skin before he began to pick his head up again. "Of course you want me to. How can I get out of this without you wanting to know who or what I am?"

"I know what you are," he said. "You're just different."

Ky soon turned his head and looked at him past his shoulder and collar. "You do?" Well, he wouldn't expect to take him as an idiot, that was for sure. He let a light grin pass his lips as he snickered. "Of course you do. And I suppose you want me to tell the whole story, don't you?" He looked down below him and watched a group of men pass under. Two torches flickered below like a pair of menacing amber eyes. "Alright, I'll tell you." He turned around and sat down on the stone edge, hoisting himself until his feet were no longer touching the roof or his sword. He sat facing his original.

They stared at each other as Ky took in a deep cold breath through his nostrils. The moment of truth, the moment of revelation.

He lowered his head, staring at the ground and began.

"Where do I start?" He sighed. "I was created eight years ago during the Crusades in Paris. It was a secluded place, somewhere you would never expect to find a plot against the new leader of the Sacred Order, but there it was, just a distance from the city, from the Sacred Order's headquarters no less."

"Is it still there?"

"Don't interrupt me," he said, and continued. "Somehow, these people got a hold of your DNA, possibly in the battlefield. I'm sure you were injured in battle eventually. Right?" He finally cast his eyes up past his brows to glance at the blonde across him. He watched how he stared at him, those blue eyes locked and fearsome. Slowly, the blonde nodded. That lead Ky to duck his head again and return his eyes to the ground. "The first thing I remember in my life was pain. That's all I could remember from those early days with them. Pain. Do you know why? They were altering me. I was born human, just like you, even though I didn't have a mother or father. The first day I was. . .born, they injected me with another form of DNA. I guess they needed the assurance that I could face you just a step ahead and a level above. It also sped up my aging, so within a year, I looked your age, an eighteen year old boy. By then, I was ready, and they were ready. I mastered my magic quickly. They trained me hard, they taught me everything about you. They taught me everything about the Sacred Order I needed to know to be convincing." He looked down on one of his gloved hands. He turned his palms up with his fingers half curled.

His original interrupted again. "So, they wanted you to play me."

He nodded. "They wanted me to kill you and mislead your men. But their plans didn't go as planned. One night, I felt it in the air—the Gears raided the laboratory. They killed every man there. I could hear them screaming for their lives. It was loud, and I listened from one of the rooms as they killed them. But the Gears never touched me. They sensed what was in me, even if it was diluted by human blood. They saved me, Kiske, they freed me from that place and their plans. But I'll tell you this, my life became even more sinful because of the Gears. I killed, I raided with them, I played their decoy. There are many things I would rather not explain to a man like you while I lived with that band." He went silent a moment. "But that life ended in one night of a raid. I was caught off guard by a woman after I killed her family. She fought back. She was the only who fought back like that. And when I did manage to get away from her, I found that your men made it into the town. I fled, and that was it. That was the end. I've been looking for an absolution ever since. I haven't killed another person in seven years, but. . ." He glanced over his shoulder and looked into the town. This place, although, he would kill for Dizzy if it ever came to that. There was no questioning it.

Soon, his original spoke. "You mean, you're not— That DNA they injected you with," he said slowly. "What was it?"

Ky turned his head back to his original. The man looked paler than he last glanced at him. His eyes were wide. His left hand was bunched. Ky stared at him with his crimson eyes. "You don't see it?"

"I thought—you were—"

"Gear," Ky then whispered, tilting his head back a bit. And the very moment he spoke that fearsome word, he saw the corners of his original's lips tick back.

"You're a—"

Ky nodded. "I'm your devil. I thought you already had it figured it out."

His original shook his head. "I was expecting something else—"

Ky grinned. "Like what?"

His original looked around himself, as if he were unsure how to explain. "I—there were—"

He laughed and stood. "Excuse me. Now that I explained myself, I have to—"

Something suddenly seemed to click in the other man's brain. A realization perhaps, an idea. His original then pointed a finger at him before he could get anywhere, his eyes narrowed. "You're under arrest!"

Ky halted. "What?"

His original began to walk towards him. "As officer of the IPF, you're under arrest for fraud, conspiracy and war crimes."

_Police officer? Shit._

Ky began to back up but the back of his legs hit the stone barrier behind him. He stared at his blonde double as the man advanced, then looked down on his sword on the ground. His eyes met his original's again.

He wasn't going anywhere with this man. Not without Dizzy. It wasn't over until he found her.

He shook his head slowly. "Not yet, Kiske." He sidestepped out of the man's path, feeling his boot slide over Furaiken's blade. Now, his original was truly an enemy again. He would lash out if it was his only choice to get back into the streets and back on his search. "If you want to arrest someone so badly, arrest the hunters here. Arrest them for kidnaping."

"Kidnaping? Who? You?" There was a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

"No," he flatly said. "They kidnaped a friend of mine. They used force." He looked over his shoulder. "I'm not even sure if she's alive."

He couldn't believe he said that, but he did. It was true. His ambient felt so quiet. That calling that drew him to this town seemed to just fade out like that shred of hope was being blown away.

Then, he slipped his hand into his pocket, with his fingers finding one of the feathers he had found on the street.

"Friend?" Kiske asked, closer now. He was in arm's reach. "Who's this friend?"

Ky turned his devilish eyes to his double. "I won't tell you. I know how you feel about Gears."

"Oh, do you?" his double said in a matter-of-fact tone. He placed a hand on his hip and leaned towards him, his lips pursed together tightly. "It's been eight years since your training. Are you sure they're up to date?"

Ky looked at him from under his brows. He felt a bit small for that moment as he stared into the blonde's eyes. The man's point was taken, and it had proved him right. He had no knowledge of Kiske to this present date. He didn't even know he was a police officer until now, although it did suit him well. He inhaled a breath through his nose. "What are your feelings towards Gears?"

"Tell me who this friend is."

Ky frowned. Pushy, wasn't he?

His original suddenly lashed out and grabbed a hold of his wrist. He barely saw it coming and by the time he knew he grabbed him, it was too late. The man pulled on his hand that clutched the feather and examined it. "What's this?" He tried to remove it from his hand, but Ky managed to pull out of his grip.

"Don't touch it!"

The back of Ky's legs hit the stone barrier behind him again once he freed himself. He bent down as he grabbed his black and red Furaiken on the ground and began distancing himself from his blonde double. He didn't take his eyes off him, and neither did his double.

"Is that a feather?"

"You're wasting my time!" Ky snapped at him.

"Your friend," he then said. "Is her name Dizzy?"

Ky suddenly froze in mid-sidestep, staring at him. He didn't say anything for a long moment. His hand continued to clutch that feather, while his mind was torn in telling this man. What if he did? Would this man continue to be an enemy? Another threat to Dizzy's fragile life?

His heart was pounding.

"Is she here? Is she the one they kidnaped?"

Ky's eyes wandered off to the side, as if pretending he couldn't hear him. He didn't want to answer.

"Well?"

Slowly then, he returned his attention to the man. "What are your feelings towards Dizzy?"

"She's not an enemy," he said softly, as if trying to comfort him. It worked.

Ky relaxed his face a bit but still didn't take his eyes off him. He slowly nodded to the blonde. "She's here. And I need to find her before those hunters kill her." He took a breath in, with his chest puffing out. His jaw tightened. "I'm wasting my time here! I've got to save Dizzy!" He turned his head, then returned it back to Kiske, and pointed a finger at him. "I'll make you a deal. After I find Dizzy, then you can arrest me!" His legs then got moving, with that unbreakable urge coming back to his cause. It was like she was calling him again, and this time, it was louder.

He leapt on the edge of the roof, and without considering his own life, body or even his double chasing him, he jumped down into the two-story descent.

His double didn't try to stop him.


	11. Jonas

It was a relief to get back onto the streets and away from _him_. He distanced himself as much as he could before the young man could change his mind and arrest him anyway. It still surprised him that he hadn't done so the moment he met him, which would have lead him bound and doomed. Perhaps he didn't want him as badly as he thought; if he did, it would have been all over. But why would that be? A no bigger catch for the Holy Knight would be to find and execute his doppleganger. That was the way it was supposed to go, in his mind, at least. 

Something just didn't seem to fit. There seemed to be something that Kiske knew that he didn't—the way he hesitated, the tone in his voice— It seemed he was trying to hide something.

Perhaps it was just the shock.

The shock, that's right. The next time he finds him, he'll want nothing more than to get his hands on his doppleganger and punish him for his crimes. But Dizzy became before his ending.

His mind clicked back to thoughts of her, putting his blonde original behind him for now. His slender fingers gripped the edge of a building as he carefully leaned out to look down an empty street. He could still hear the voices of the townspeople searching for him in the distance. As long as they stayed down there, he still had a chance. The last thing he wanted was to be captured. He wasn't sure if he had another escape ready. The last time was just plain lucky, a shot in the dark. Someone with his training knew wild attacks lead to nothing. Well, it didn't lead him to Dizzy, that was for sure.

He glanced around himself carefully before he pushed himself from the alley and back into the streets. He moved like a cat, his back slightly arched forward with Furaiken held out at his side, preapred to be swung at any threat. His boots barely made a noise under him.

The streets became silent quickly, but when he began to near another opening of an alley, he felt an energy in the air. Human. He slowed his steps until they were slow and careful. He nearly walked on his toes. His senses took in all his surroundings.

He saw a shadow approaching the edge of the alley. He closed in, with his shoulder to the wall, and waited.

He then suddenly threw his hand out, catching the figure by the front of the coat. He pulled him into the streets and threw him into the wall where he had been standing. But once he got a look at the man's face, his aggression faded for a moment, remembering the incident that happened in the woods. His eyes widened at the sight of him, and the one he was holding did the same. He wasn't a man at all, but a boy. He was nearly his height, with dark blonde hair. And that tan coat—

"You," he snarled. His head ached just looking at him.

The boy stared at him, gaping his mouth, but he couldn't bring himself to speak. He must have been too scared.

"Where is she?" Ky snapped at him.

The boy swallowed and stared into his face. They only looked a year or two apart. "I. . ." He then shook his head up and down while staring at him from under his bangs. "I can take you to her."

"You know where she is." His lips flickered. "But what's the catch?"

The boy shook his head. "There's no catch. You want her back, don't you?"

"Of course I do." Ky suddenly released his hands from the boy's coat and took a few steps back, never taking his eyes off him—or trusting him. The boy remained pinned against the wall a few moments before he pulled his back away from it. He looked Ky over with his eyes before he nodded his head to the side.

"Just follow me. Come on."

The boy started off into the alley, with Ky staring at his back a moment before he glanced around himself, checking if this was indeed a trick. He felt no one around, though. There was a possibility that maybe the boy was telling the truth. But why would he trust an enemy?

He followed the boy at a short distance, his ears and eyes taking in whatever they could. He looked past the boy to make sure there weren't any more hunters coming in after him. The only relief he found in this was that the boy wasn't armed.

He watched the boy look over his shoulder a few times to look at him, and slowed his steps a bit until Ky was nearly at his side. He saw him looking at him through the corner of his eye.

"Do you know how close you were to finding her earlier?" the boy asked.

Ky watched him suspiciously but waited for him to explain.

"She was being kept in the station where you attacked the hunters. She was right there, in a room on the top floor."

Ky halted and grabbed a hold of the boy's arm, stopping him from going any further. He squeezed his arm, making him wince in the process. "You're saying she was there the whole time?"

"Yes, but you ran. After I heard you nearly got in, I thought you were aware that she was."

Inside, Ky cursed himself. She had been there this whole time, yet he blew it. Why didn't he see this? How could he fail her like that?

"Is she still there?" he asked through his teeth, still kicking his own ass.

The boy shook his head. "No, we moved her just in case you came back."

"Then where is she now?"

"That's where I'm taking you," the boy said nervously. "If you let go of my arm." He looked down on Ky's hand clutching his arm, then back on his face.

Ky narrowed his eyes, but finally brought himself to let go of the boy's arm. He watched as he pulled it away and rubbed where he had grabbed him. He held no remorse for hurting the boy. He was still apart of this.

"Now go," he commanded.

The boy looked him over and let his eyes linger on Furaiken. Ky slid the weapon behind himself in attempt to get the boy to trust him and start leading him again. He had done so so far. Why change that?

Eventually though, the boy turned and started down the alley again, leading him into the streets. Ky kept his eyes out as he found himself out in the open and vulnerable. His eyes never ceased to stop moving, checking every spot they could. He felt his heart beating steadily in his chest.

"She hasn't been hurt, has she?" he asked, this accent laden thick on a few words.

The boy looked over his shoulder at him. "Not seriously. Maybe just a few scratches here and there."

"Not seriously," he muttered under his breath.

"She isn't," the boy insisted. "You'll see for yourself."

"Why are you doing this? You're the enemy. Why are you leading me to her?"

The boy's hazel eyes stared at him for a long time. The look on his face read something he didn't see on every human he met. It seemed as if he had seen something, like a man who had been touched by something holy. It suggested a true sincerity about the boy, but Ky still couldn't trust him. Not yet.

"Because, she's human," he said. His very words made Ky stop in his tracks, completely shocked. He couldn't think of anything to say, he just stood there, staring forward. The boy soon stopped as well after he noticed him. "I-is there something wrong?"

Ky continued to stare at him, then slowly made his way up to the boy. The dumbfounded look on his face still remained there. "You—you said she's human."

The boy grinned nervously and shrugged. "Yeah, I did. So are you. I know it sounds crazy."

Ky took a step closer, his features solid but unthreatening. The boy surprisingly didn't back down. "It's not crazy. It's true. She is human. She's just a girl trapped in a Gear's body."

The boy smiled. "That's what I wanted to say. Of course I wouldn't say that in front of my uncle. The way she acts, she laughs, she's—"

"Just a girl," they both said at the same time.

The boy laughed and looked at him from under his bangs. "You're even more human than she is, though. You just have odd eyes. And your magic—I heard there are some people who mastered lightning—"

Ky looked down on one hand. "True."

"She's been asking about you, you know. She's been crying. I'd let her go myself if I could, but there's no convincing my uncle what I see. He just sees a Gear, that's all."

"So what are you planning on doing?"

The boy bit his lower lip before answering. "I don't know. I'd like to give her back to you, if that's possible."

Then, Ky reached a hand out and placed it upon the boy's shoulder. "I would appreciate it if you could. What's your name?"

"Jonas. Do you have a name?"

"Ky. And the girl is named Dizzy." He glanced around then began to guide Jonas to the side, towards the privacy of an alley. "I have an idea, if you're willing to do the right thing and help me."

* * *

"I have an idea."

He kept out of sight but close enough to hear. He wasn't going to just let this fraud get away like this and trust he would be able to find him again. This—clone was still a war criminal and one made for a conspiracy against him. It could still be programed into his brain, just like those machines he encountered several months ago.

He had thought he was just a more sophisticated version of one of them, but after he explained himself, he was something much more dangerous. A Gear version of himself. Flesh and bone. If having mechanical replicas running around claiming to be him wasn't enough, now this? This whole thing was getting ridiculous.

Questions were mounting in his head that begged to be answered. Who made him? Were they still around? Was there a chance the conspiracy was still thriving after the war? What sort of war crimes was he guilty of? Was he the only one?

He watched as the clone pulled a citizen aside and into an alley. He spoke to him almost like a swindler, but he sounded sincere once he knew Dizzy was involved and at the center of this plan. He had met the female Gear just under a year ago, and she became a valuable being in his life. She had helped prove to himself that not all Gears had been evil as he had once thought. And if she was in danger—well, he would be forced to get involved, too.

He leaned close to the edge of the building that covered him as he listened to the two.

"Take me where she's being held. Say you found me on the streets and captured me—"

"Surrender," the boy said. "Surrender instead. I don't think they'll believe me if I said I caught you single-handedly."

"Alright. Good idea. I'm not sure how well I can act anymore, though."

_Cute_, he thought.

"When you put me in where she's being held— Two can fit, correct?"

"Yeah. I'm not sure if they want to put you two in together."

"I'll insist. When I see her and make sure she's alright, I'll try to charge, and that's when you lock me in—or at least pretend to. Then you'll have both of us. A few minutes will pass, and when everything settles down, I'll step out and escape with Dizzy."

"Ky? You're not going to hurt anyone, are you?"

The clone didn't speak at first. "I can't give you that promise."

"Then promise me you won't kill anyone."

Again, the clone was silent.

"It won't be intentional."


	12. The Three Gears

"A church? You brought her to a church?" Ky felt his fury resurfacing. His eyes were fixed on the building with fire in them before he snapped his head to Jonas."You commit a crime and you bring her to a this holy place? What are you trying to do? _What are you trying to prove?_" He had to clench his teeth to keep himself from shouting. 

Jonas swallow hard. "I'm just following what my uncle says. I don't know exactly why he brought her here. You'll have to ask him."

Ky narrowed his eyes. "You were just following orders. Haven't you heard of something called morals?"

The boy grimaced as if those words had gotten to him. He stared at him, then began to open his mouth to defend himself, but Ky stopped him with a wave of his hand and a shake of his head.

"Let's get this over with," he said, and turned his attention to the building again. He saw one familiar hunter from before standing in front of the steps like a guard, armed with a loaded bow by his left thigh, but it wasn't the man Ky wanted. It was a smaller, brown-haired man. He was the only one standing outside the doors.

The church was quaint and charming, with a brown shingle roof that sloped sharply on both sides. It had a tall steeple, crowned by a white cross. Its walls were white. There was a set of pale stone stairs that lead to a pair of white doors. It was your typical small town church, the kind you would see in a postcard. It was untouched by neighboring buildings. There was another soul around, although Ky did notice three saddled horses standing beside the left side of the church.

Ky took a deep breath and slowly let it out, preparing himself for what was about to come. His heart was already starting a deep, steady beat—or was that Dizzy making it beat like that?

"Are the rest inside?" he asked.

"I suppose," Jonas said. "There would be at least two guarding the room."

Ky nodded and kept his eyes on the church. He found it odd that Dizzy hadn't defended herself yet, knowing how she had handled the woman in red. He had a feeling these men would mean nothing to her, but then again, perhaps she didn't want to hurt them after all they were doing to her. She knew what she could do, and now she was just holding back—something she had been telling him about.

_If I am the one to resort to violence_, he thought, _then let it be me. Let me be the one to blame_.

"If you're ready, then so am I," Ky said, then passed Furaiken to the boy. He looked on at the impressive weapon as if he were giving it to him as a gift. His eyes stared at the handle and forked hilt while both hands wrapped around the length of it.

"Wow. It's heavy."

"Just don't drop it," he said. "And make sure I know where it is." He watched Jonas nod. Ky then turned his head and pointed his chin towards the small church. "Ready?"

"Yeah."

"Then let's go." He then started forward. The boy quickly followed and took him by the elbow to make the staged surrender a bit more believable. Ky kept his head high, his shoulders slumped forward a bit for a defeated affect. His eyes were fixed on the man guarding the front of the church. The man guarding the church picked his head up and watched them approach the moment he noticed them. He shifted on his feet and tilted his head while the teenage boy was bringing the Gear that had turned the whole town to panic by the arm.

"Jonas?"

The boy lead him up to the man. "He's surrendering."

The man looked at the boy, then his hazel eyes fell upon Ky's face. He looked at him suspiciously, hateful and arrogantly all at once. Then, a grin ticked at his lips. "Surrendering, huh? Figures. We were beginning to wonder how long you were going to last."

Ky stared into the man's eyes, which made him take a step back from that beastly glare. They made him sneer, but he soon broke the contact and found the human eyes of Jonas instead.

"Bring him inside. Evan will be glad to hear about this."

Jonas nodded and began to lead Ky towards the doors of the church. But before he could take his second step, the older hunter grabbed him by the other elbow and drew himself close enough so Ky could smell his breath. If he had the nerve and Dizzy's life wasn't on the line, he would have slapped him.

"Don't try anything funny."

Ky forced himself to keep his temper under control and kept his eyes away. "I don't plan on doing anything."

The man sneered at him again and gestured the boy inside. Once Ky felt his other elbow freed, the two made their way inside the church. He inhaled silently, getting a heavy whiff of essence and candles in his nose, while he began to pray under his barely mobile lips for Dizzy's safety and for forgiveness for the actions about to come.

He continued the words even as he saw Evan Redd and the rest of his men standing on the far left side of the church. Evan was watching them enter. Ky felt his heart pound harder then. A part of him wanted to snatch Furaiken from the boy and forgot about the whole plan, but he couldn't shed any blood in this holy place. He continued his prayer until Jonas brought him up to the hunters standing outside a dark mahogany door several paces from the steps to the altar. All three of them were facing them. All of them were armed.

"What is this?" Evan asked the boy.

"He came here to surrender," Jonas said.

"Surrender?" The man stared at his face and glowered at him as if in disgust.

"Yeah," Jonas said, "He came to me in the streets, gave me his sword here and surrendered."

The man looked between the two of them, not looking quiet convinced it seemed. "Just like that?" He then narrowed one eye at Ky. "You were muttering something when you walked up here. What were you saying to my boy?"

Ky returned the look. "I was praying. This is a house of God—but perhaps you are unaware of that fact."

One of the men by Evan snickered. "A Gear who believes in God—"

"At least I have more respect for this place than you do. I hope God may have mercy on you all for what you are turning into this holy place."

Evan stared at him for a long moment. "What do you really want, Gear?"

"I want to make sure Dizzy is alright. It's why I am surrendering. So, to ensure Dizzy's safety, I surrender to you."

"What are you really up to?" the man who had ridiculed him earlier asked. He was a big man, possibly a few inches over six feet. Ky remembered him clearly. "This is even more crazier than what you tried to pull earlier."

Ky shook his head. "This is all for her. I care about her. Monsieur Redd, haven't you cared about someone in your life—even once? A wife? Your nephew?" He glanced at Jonas beside him.

"Gears killed my fiancé during the war," Evan said. "And they killed that boy's parents, too, leaving me his only surviving family member."

"Then you would do anything to assure his life and safety," Ky said. "Even surrender to the enemy who wants nothing but to kill you? Most men understand the meaning of love."

Evan turned his eyes down a moment, then picked them up again to his level. He then raised his crossbow to Ky's face, with the arrow inches from his forehead. Evan's finger was on the trigger, but Ky didn't flinch or show any concern that he could be seconds from having steel slice through his skull and into his brain. He calmly stared back at the man.

"You wouldn't really do that, would you?" Ky asked. "Kill someone in the presence of God? Could you really shed blood—even Gear blood in these holy walls?"

Evan's lips formed a sneer.

"He's just trying to get to you, Evan," one hunter said.

"If you plan on killing me, please, do it outside. And let me see Dizzy first."

Then, Evan snapped the crossbow down, that ugly sneer still on his weathered face. He stared at him a few more seconds before he turned his head to Jonas, nodding him to the side. "Jonas, move. Make sure he can't get that sword."

"Yes, sir. I'll leave it out here."

Ky watched through the corner of his eye as Jonas sidestepped from him and leaned against the wall by the door. By then, Evan reached behind himself with a free hand while he kept his aim on Ky. He released the lock, then turned the knob. He opened the door to reveal a small, dim and cluttered room. It looked like a storage room. There were metal shelves on each side of the wall, filled to the brim. It almost seemed as they were about to topple over. There were boxes piled up in the corners.

When the light bleed into the room and settled across the wall like a spotlight, that was when he saw her. Dizzy was sitting against the wall, her legs drawn up close to her body, and her wings drooping. He never saw them droop before. He saw a few feathers scattered around her on the floor. She kept her head ducked, keeping him from seeing her face, even though he was standing right at the doorway. There was something around her wrists.

She looked broken.

That gave him the hint to step forward into the room. He kept his eyes on her, watching carefully for any sort of distress. "Dizzy?"

At the sound of his French-laden voice, she quickly picked her head up, a glimmer of hope on her face. "Ky!" she cried. He saw tears immediately build in her light red eyes.

That was Ky's cue. He quickly moved to her within a few strides, and she came fluidly into his arms. It was as if she commanded him to hold her. He squeezed her tightly and felt her fists against his chest. And for once in his life, wrapping his arms around her meant something.

"Are you alright?" he whispered to her, as if he were talking to a startled child.

Slowly, she picked her head up to him, keeping her body pressed to his. He had never been so close to her before. He saw tears pouring from her eyes. There were tear stains on her cheeks.

_She's been asking about you, you know. She's been crying._

She nodded, then said, "Yes. I want to go home."

He wiped away a few tears with his thumb, then noticed a scratch at her cheek and a nasty looking scuff on her bare shoulder. He wouldn't call _that_ a few scratches. He began to move a hand towards it, but couldn't bring himself to touch it, fearing it would hurt her. Instead, he let his hand find something else to grope. He went for her hands, but found them tightly bunched and saw chains wrapped around her hands and wrists. He stared down on them and let his eyes follow the end of the chains to the floor where they were tied to a pipe against the wall.

_Tethered. They had her tethered here like an animal!_

He turned his head towards the hunters and showed them the chains around her. _"What is the meaning of this_?" he shouted. The sudden rise in his voice made Dizzy duck her head and wince.

"We weren't going to let her roam free in this room like a guest," Evan said. "She's a prisoner. What would keep her from breaking that door and attacking my men?"

"You bastard!" Ky snapped. "She won't hurt anyone!"

"She's a Gear," Evan said.

"Or so you say. Just get these things off her!"

Evan crossed his arms and shook his head. "Don't you know what it means to be a prisoner? You don't make demands."

Ky narrowed his eyes and sneered. "Baise-toi."

"What did you just say to me?"

To keep himself under control and coming up with anything more vulgar, in which he was very capable of, Ky turned his head away and looked at Dizzy. He kept his back to the hunters, ignoring them. Oh, how dearly he wanted to kill them—

"Lock them up."

Ky looked over his shoulder as the door closed behind them, with darkness soon taking over his vision, leaving his eyes to adjust. He only saw shadows and outlines. And there was Dizzy. He felt her beginning to tremble.

He soon pulled his head back, keeping an arm around her back. He raised a hand up and searched the air above him until his fingers were laced by a cord he was looking for, and pulled it. The room was flooded by a low, dull yellow light that seemed to be on its last ounce of energy. But at least now, he could see her, and she would no longer have to be in the dark. That's all he wanted for now. She picked her head up and looked around once she noticed the light.

"Is that better?" he asked her, keeping his voice low. There was a possibility that the hunters could come in and break the lightbulb to keep him from doing it again, but he didn't care.

With her tear stained face, she looked up at him. "Yes. Thank you." A few fresh tears fell from her eyes. "What do we do now?"

He wiped at the tears while he said, "We wait."

* * *

"Evan, I don't get it. Why don't we just kill them right now? The female's tethered and the male's disarmed. It's like shooting fish in a barrel." Jag raised his arms and bent them so it looked like he were holding an invisible crossbow, then ticked his index finger back. "Right between the eyes."

Evan Redd turned his head and stared at the face of the storage room door. He then notice the light come on from the gap under the door. He frowned at it. He heard the two Gear's voices, but couldn't make out what they were saying.

"Not yet," he said. "That male, he's up to something. I can smell it." He turned his attention to Jonas who was standing by the door with the male's sword propped in front of his chest, both hands holding it. It made the boy look like a disarmored knight guarding his post. The sword almost suited him. "Jonas, what did he say to yo when he found you?"

"He, umm—he came up to me in the street, told me he wasn't going to hurt me and said he wanted to surrender. He said he was doing it for her. I think what he said was true." He shrugged. "He cares for her. Didn't you see?"

"He's a damned Gear," Evan growled then looked at the face of the door again. "Something's going on in that head of his." He then looked at Jonas. "Jonas, you keep that sword away from him. In fact, why don't you take it to the station? He'll have less of a chance of getting his hands on it if he is planning on something. He won't have anything to channel his magic."

The boy shifted. "Are you sure?"

Evan frowned at him. Jonas had rarely questioned him—until now. "What's wrong with you today, boy? That female's gotten to you, hasn't she? How many times do I have to tell you, she isn't human. Those tears you saw earlier? They're fake—just like him." He pointed a thumb to the door.

The boy looked like he were about to speak, to try to defend his belief that she held some sort of innocence or she was somehow human, but he didn't. He turned his head away, resuming that guard-like stance. "Alright, I'll do it."

"I'll do it." Jag said, and stormed up to the boy. He snatched the sword right out of his hand, but he didn't stop. While he walked towards the back of the church, looked over his shoulder at Evan. "I think they've gotten to your boy, Evan. And that female started it. Kill her, Evan." His voice echoed off the walls.

He watched as the tall man continued down the aisle and to the doors. The boy didn't take his eyes off Jag as he carried the sword away, as if he longed for it. Evan couldn't help but think he was beginning to lose his loyal nephew he raised as a child since the death of his parents and taught him how to embrace his magic. And for what? All because of two trickster humanoid Gears? He never thought he could lose him to Gears, but then again, these weren't typical Gears.

Jonas never took his eyes off Jag, even as he moved outside. But soon, Jag pushed one door open again and shouted, "He's not alone! He's not alone! There's another!"

Then, Evan bristled. He snapped his head to the other man nearby, Rene, a younger hunter in his twenties. "I knew it was a trick."

"But there were only two. Where did this one come from?"

"The male must have called for another while he was in the streets somehow. We've got to keep it from getting inside." Evan then took off, grabbing Jonas by the wrist as he went. He dragged the boy with him until he got through the doors. The last thing he wanted was to leave him with those two other Gears. Rene followed. When he got outside, he let go of him after seeing the new Gear.

He stopped and stared at the figure standing before the steps to the church, nearly in a face-off stance with Kain, whom he had left to guard the doors. The five of them stared at the figure below, blocking his path. This one had to been called by the red-haired male. He looked just like him, except this one was blonde. He even wore a fake Sacred Order uniform and carried a sword like the other's, too. It must have been his brother.

"Damn Gears," Evan muttered under his breath as he looked at it.

Then, the Gear spoke, his voice just like the red-haired male, except this one's accent wasn't as thick. "You men! I am Officer Ky Kiske of the IPF. I was given information that there was a kidnaping involved." He looked at the group at the top of the steps, then pointed a half gloved finger to Jag. "Where is the owner of that sword?"

No one spoke.

"I was informed by the owner of that sword there was a kidnaping," the Gear went on. "Are you the hunters of this town? If you are, I have reason to believe you are guilty of this crime."

"First Gears who pass themselves off as human," Evan muttered. "Now Gears passing themselves off as the police. What's this world coming to?"

"I say we kill them all," Jag said. He then raised the black and red sword over his head. "Hey Gear! You want your brother? Come and get him!"

The blonde passed him a dumb look. "Did you just call me a Gear?"

* * *

Ky watched the door as he sat on the floor with Dizzy, her head on his shoulder. He kept his eyes on the gap below the door, watching the shadows. He listened to the hunters' voices, heard them speaking about them. He even began to hear that Jonas was starting to be suspected. And then there was shouting. Their footsteps fled the door. All of them. 

Ky lifted his head and shifted on his hands. "Something's going on out there." He slowly pulled himself up to his feet and walked to the door, listening. "I can feel it. Can't you?" He looked behind himself at her. She said nothing and just looked at him. "Something's—" He then placed his hands on the door and pressed an ear against it. He heard nothing but the silence of the church at first. Even the presence of the hunters were faint.

"What's going on?" Dizzy asked.

Ky pulled his ear away from the door. "I don't know." He then drew a hand down to the knob and tested it, but it was locked. "Come on, Jonas," he muttered under his breath.

His eyes grazed over the door from top to bottom, looking for any sign of weakness. His mind wondered if there was a possibility that he could break the door down with a few rams to the side of it. If no one was guarding the door, then it would be the perfect opportunity.

He began to consider, and that consideration became a decision. He kept his eyes on the door and began to step back, but then, he heard a loud bang echo through the church. He heard the men yelling.

There was something in the air. It began to feel like tension.

"Ky, what was that?"

He kept listening, then heard what sounded like footsteps approach the door in a full run. His eyes fell upon the floor where he saw shadows at the gap of the door. And then, there came a loud bang across the front of the door as if something had hit it. Ky's heart jumped and he heard Dizzy shriek.

Keeping his eyes set forward on the door, Ky backed up slowly until the back of his legs were in front of Dizzy. Whoever or whatever was trying to come through that door would have to get through him first if they were after Dizzy.

He listened again as the footsteps retreated, then charged forward again. He prepared himself, watching the door fly open and reveal a figure in white. More light flooded past the figure as he gathered himself, standing up straight after the brutal charge. But soon, Ky noticed who he was. The armored shoulders, the white outfit, the blonde hair—

_Shit._

Ky dropped his arms as he stared across at his original.

Before neither of them could say anything, one of the hunters ran up to the blonde man and jumped on his back, making him bow forward with the extra weight on him. He quickly thrusted his elbow into the man's face, and threw him. "Forgive me," he said as he looked back. The man's crystalline blue eyes soon turned back to the two Gears in the room. "Are you two alright?"

Ky never thought his original would have ever asked that question to him.

Behind him, Dizzy peeked out past his legs. "Yes, we're fine. Are you here to help us?"

"Yes," his original said and took a step closer.

"You followed me," Ky said with bitterness in his tone and his brows lowering.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I had to. Besides, I think you needed the help."

Ky's lips fell into a frown. He was beginning to like him less and less. "If you want to help someone, help Dizzy." He then sidestepped out of the way to reveal her plight.

His original moved closer to her and examined the links around her wrists and hands. "Chains?" His original frowned then looked into her eyes. "The best I can do is cut those off for now. Once I get you past these men, we can get them off." He then stepped aside and eyed up the links trailing to the pipe against the wall. Ky watched as the young man raised his sword and brought it down in an execution-style swing. The white blade cut through it easily, slicing the metal links in half. Afterwards, the blonde looked between the two. "Now, quickly, follow me." He then glanced at Ky. "And I still expect to see _you_. We aren't finished." He then turned and headed out the door. Ky passed Dizzy a glance before he wrapped an arm around her and took off after his double.

While they made their way out to freedom, he turned his head to the man his original had thrown to the floor. He was on his hands and knees, with one hand cupping his nose and mouth. Ky briefly saw blood between his fingers. His original had possibly broken his nose.

He kept Dizzy close to his side, listening to the chain rattling as she ran. He'd hate to take her outside with those things binding her, but right now, they had no choice. Even without his sword, he would protect her any way possible, even if it meant with his life.

His original charged the doors, barging his way out, with Dizzy and Ky following a few paces behind. He braced a hand out as he shoved the incoming door back open, while his original leapt down the steps to face the men before them. Ky halted only momentarily to get his bearings and to find a clear path out. But the moment he stopped, a searing pain suddenly surged through his knee, and sent him into the ground. When he landed, he saw an arrow shaft sticking out from the side of his knee. The arrow head was nearly tucked under his knee cap. That only meant—

He picked his head up and saw Evan Redd standing with his crossbow aimed at him, ready to fire another. He felt this one aimed at his head. And Dizzy knew it, too.

"Ky!" She stepped out in front of im, placing herself between him and the next arrow. "Stop it! Don't hurt him! Leave him alone!"

Ky's heart felt like it cracked when she got in front of him. Just how was she going to defend herself and him when her hands were bound?

"Dizzy, don't," he whispered.

She didn't seem to notice him anymore. Her eyes were fixed on the man by the base of the stairs. She was almost watching him like a predator. He saw her green wing twitch. He had a bad feeling about this.

Dizzy was angry. And when Dizzy got angry, so did Necro.

A part of him wanted her to unleash Necro's rage upon that man, but then again, this was innocent Dizzy. Why should she be responsible for someone's death?

Could he let her? Could he let her kill the man who kidnaped her and saw her nothing more than an animal? Would this be just revenge?

He saw the man taking aim on her.

This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. He—

Dizzy bowed forward, with her wing snapping out until they were fully extended. A few feathers came loose. Ky kept his head down though and focused on the man across from them. He watched as he stared at her, his eyes bulging and his mouth open as if he had grown suddenly afraid of her.

Dizzy screamed, but it wasn't a normal scream. It sounded distorted and—inhuman. Had she already let Necro take over?

He heard the chains rattle, then the next thing he knew, he something hit him, making him recoil and bring a hand up to shield himself. Something hard hit his thigh and bounced off onto the step. He looked and saw it was link belonging to the chains. And there was more of it around her.

He looked up and saw a few of the men stop and stare at the creature at the top of the stairs. One joined Evan's side, a tall man—and Ky saw that he had his sword.

Evan Redd pointed a finger up towards Dizzy. "Kill the she-beast!"

The man beside him began to start forward, and at that time, Ky noticed he was no longer looking at the back of Dizzy's legs, but a green cloaked figure. Necro.

The tall man with the military cut skidded to a halt at the base of the stairs when he saw the new figure in place of the Gear hybrid. But he had gotten too close. By the time he stopped, it was too late to turn back. Necro pulled back on a bow Ky couldn't see and released it, sending the magic-charged arrow into the man's chest. It seemed to split into three as it hit him. The man fell backwards a few feet, literally lifted off his feet and landed on his back. Ky's sword flew out of his hand, spinning, and landed nearby. He stared at it.

"Jag! That thing killed Jag!"

Necro then stepped down the stairs slowly towards the other men. Ky sat up straighter and watched. The men before it began to back up, even Ky's original. He saw Evan Redd take a step forward and pull back on the trigger on his crossbow. The arrow hit Necro, but not its body. The being looked at its bow where the arrow had lodged itself, then back on Evan. It slowly reached into its cloak and pulled out an axe from beneath it. It began to advance on the group of men.

Ky meanwhile tried to pick himself up, but was sent back down on his backside, crying out in pain. He grabbed for the arrow shaft sticking out of his knee, and pulled. He gave another scream as it came out, then placed a hand upon the wound. He felt the pain and the magic coursing through his knee.

Damaged or not, he still had to stop Necro. He forced himself into a stand, stumbling at first before he managed to stabilize himself. He put his weight onto his good leg before he stepped forward and limped down the stairs. He nearly lost himself twice, but at least he kept himself from falling.

Once he reached the bottom and got his feet under him, Ky watched Necro advance, its back to him. "Necro!" he called to it. "Necro!"

The being didn't listen to him and took a few more steps before swinging its axe. The men scattered out of the way. He saw his original in the crowd again. And Jonas beside him.

Ky limped forward and towards the dead man laying on the ground. As he approached, he saw his upper chest had been torn open. There was a hole the size of his land, revealing a window into the mangled flesh within him. He even saw crushed bone. But Ky wasn't interested in the dead man, it was his sword. He stumbled forward and snatched it from the ground.

He picked his head up and looked to Jonas and his original again. Noting Necro's position, he limped towards them. He grabbed Jonas by the arm, using him as balance and to get his attention. "Jonas, get inside the church."

The boy looked at him and shook his head. His face was pale. "This wasn't the way it was supposed to go."

"I know. Just get inside. You'll be safe there. Now." He pointed him away.

The boy hesitated, but thankfully, he did as told. Ky watched him a moment before he turned his head to Necro. The being slashed its axe at Evan but the man ducked just in time to avoid being decapitated. He noticed another hunter was missing.

"Can you do anything?" his original asked beside him.

"I don't know," he said as he watched Necro and Evan size each other up. "This isn't Dizzy. But I might be able to call her back down." He limped towards Necro then. He watched as the being swung again, with Evan scattering to the side, nearly going on his hands. Ky actually wanted Necro to kill him, but he couldn't help but think about Dizzy. He couldn't let her be guilty. "Dizzy? Dizzy!"

Ky's attention was pulled away suddenly when he heard the sound of hoofbeats approaching nearly at full speed. He turned his head to see two horses charging at him with the two remaining hunters, even the one with the broken nose. His original was in their path, too. He looked behind himself and dove out of the way, just escaping a sword aimed at his back. It left them to focus on his clone after they passed him.

They charged towards him side by side, but the formation was broken by the hunter's horse on the left. It suddenly wove to the left, missing Ky completely. "Stupid horse! What are you doing? You made me miss!" The hunter pulled on the reins to get it under control. Ky grinned and turned his head to get his attention back on Necro. Luckily—or unluckily—he hadn't killed Evan yet. He was still evading its swings.

While his attention was away, he neglected to notice the rider with the disobedient horse charging him again. When he turned his head, he saw the dark horse nearly in his face, and Ky instinctively swung. Blood was sent into the air. He heard the horse squeal and collapse to the ground. Its rider fell to the ground beside it after being thrown.

Ky looked at the fallen horse by his feet. Its neck was slashed open, down to the muscle. He found himself staring at it. It was dark bay in color—a dark brown, almost black with black on its lower legs and a black snout. There were a few features that looked eerily familiar. It looked just like—

"Nora?"

"Behind you!" his original shouted.

Ky turned his head to see the other mounted hunter charging him, his sword raised to strike. He was beginning to swing at him, but something hit the man across the side. It was a bright light, almost blinding—and not just a light, but electricity. Magic. He felt it. The man screamed and fell off the horse, landing in a dull thud on the ground.

Ky turned his head to his original. He saw his white Furaiken wavering with his magic along the edge.

Saved by the enemy—

His original then pointed towards Necro and Evan. "Bring her through."

Ky nodded and moved back towards the green being and the dodging hunter. Evan had his aim on the creature and fired, only to be swung at by Necro. Ky focused on its exposed back while its blade imbedded itself into the ground after the swing. He rushed forward in a hard limp and leapt onto its back as it began to straighten itself again. He wrapped an arm around its neck while the other held tightly onto his sword. "Necro, stop—"

The creature threw him into the ground, with him landing several feet away on his back. The small of his back hurt, but pain no longer mattered when he noticed Necro moving towards him. He stared at the cruel red eyes from under its hood and the twisted face that matched them.

Ky held his hand out in a weak attempt to stop it. "Necro! You know who I am! I am not your enemy!" He felt his muscles tense as the creature began to raise its axe over its head. Was this the way he was going to go? Killed for trying to protect Dizzy, even her innocence? As he looked at the blade, he remembered how she laughed when she played with Nora. He remembered setting her leg on the floor of his cabin, how her body just seemed to glow against the fire—

Necro brought the axe down, with it slamming into the ground beside him. Ky shifted his hip and braced himself closing his eyes tightly, but didn't feel pain or his own blood surface from his flesh. He opened his eyes and saw the blade stuck in the earth, a foot away from slicing into his organs.

His eyes wandered up, following the handle of the large axe. He saw Necro bent forward, that gruesome face staring at him from under the shadows of its face. It then stood and stumbled backwards. Green feathers drifted from under its robes and into the air. Ky's eyes followed them, and then, Necro dropped to its knees. But when Ky looked at it, it wasn't Necro beside him, it was Dizzy. She was sitting on the ground with her hand on her head, swaying slightly. She looked rather dazed.

Ky sat up. "Dizzy." He reached a hand for her.

His ears then caught the sound of a man running at full speed, and picked his head up to get a glimpse of white fly past his vision. His original jump in front of them. He skidded slightly but kept his footing. He stood in front of them with his arms spread. "That's far enough!"

Ky wasn't sure what he was doing at first, but then he noticed Evan Redd approaching with his crossbow aimed on him.

"You want an arrow in your head, Gear? Move!"

"For the last time, _I am not a Gear_!" he shouted. "I'm Officer Ky—"

"Shut your mouth!" Evan swung his fist at the blonde, but failed to hit his mark. His original grabbed the man by the wrist and threw him into the ground. Even though Evan weighed more than he did, he made it look easy. His original quickly kicked the crossbow out of his hand after he landed, sending it flying across the ground.

"Bastard!"

Evan lunged up as his original stood over him. He threw another punch at the man's face and also went for the arm holding his sword. Ky didn't need to watch to know the outcome of that brave dare. He turned his head to Dizzy and took her wrist. He began to pick her up slowly, making sure she could stand.

"We need to go now. "

She still seemed dazed but at least she was alright. She glanced over to the two fighting men, which seemed to get more furious by the second. "But—"

He pulled on her lightly. "Don't worry. He'll handle it from here." He then pulled on her harder and took off running. He felt her hesitate, but she didn't stop once she got going. They couldn't stop. It was the perfect opportunity to get away—the innocent Gear and the criminal—


	13. A Long Story

It was back into the streets, just like before, but this time around, it wasn't so easy getting around. His knee made things difficult. Dizzy had to catch him a few times, in mid fall or after he had already fallen to the ground and pick him back up again. But each time it happened, he didn't let go of her. He could never let go. 

Neither one of them looked back since they had fled the church. They ran as far as they could—or as much as Ky's knee could take. He was beginning to slow down. He just couldn't run anymore. For the first time in his life, his body failed him. But he wasn't going to fail her. Never again.

"Hold on, Dizzy. Hold on."

He grabbed a hold of the side of a building while Dizzy kept him upright. She had her arms around him, leaning into him so he wouldn't fall when he found his leg couldn't hold him. He glanced at her before he looked down the dirt road to a pair of gates that had them closed in. He pointed a finger at it.

"That's our way out, Dizzy," he said. "We're almost home. There's just one more thing—" He looked around himself.

"What."

He turned his head back to her. "Your wings and tail." He looked back to the gates and pointed up towards the flames flickering in the darkness by the left post. "You see those lights? Those are torches belonging to men called Postmasters. They guard the towns from Gears."

"That means they won't let us go?"

"If they know we're Gears. After we get past those gates, we can go home. I can take you back to the pirates. We just need something to hide your wings and tail to get past." He looked around again taking in what he could of the resident area that had greeted him when he had walked through its grounds with Nora. There had to be something she could use, something left out—

He pushed himself off the corner he had been leaning on and began limping backwards until Dizzy tried to pull on him to keep him from losing his balance. She followed him and watched him carefully as he limped along the walls of the building until he reached the end of it. He kept his grip around Dizzy's delicate hand, with her still close by his side while his eyes scanned the yards and grounds behind the quiet and sleeping buildings. There were things like carts, birdfeeders and piles of winter lumber left out, but it was too dark to make out any details.

He soon noticed something ghostly hovering in a yard away, fluttering lightly with the breeze that brushed up against it. He realized it was a sheet left out to dry. He pointed to the white sheet hanging on the clothes line that ran from the trunk of a tree to the back of the house. "There. I think that sheet will cover you. I'm sure they can part with it."

She glanced at him, and with his suggestion, she began to ply her hand from his grip. "I'll get it." She pulled away from him and trotted through the first yard and into the net to grab the sheet. She moved smoothly.

She quickly ran back to him with a corner of the sheet dragging the ground.

He passed her a light smile. "Good." With Furaiken tucked under his arm, he took the sheet and wrapped it around her shoulders like a cape. They adjusted it until her Gear features were covered. "How's that?"

She pulled the sheet close and put her nose to a handful of fabric in her hands. "It smells good."

Ky snickered and brought a hand up to hide a smile. "I think with that, we can go now." He then turned and began to hobble back towards the gates. As she noticed him start off by himself, she quickly joined his side and supported him.

They moved back into the streets gradually, while Ky hobbled nearly on one foot, down to the center of the road that lead to the large gates. His eyes focused on the two torches that burned in the darkness. They were the only ones on the streets, thankfully. They were too close to the gates to start worrying about being captured.

He then noticed a saddled horse standing by the far end of the gates as they walked up to it. For a moment, he thought it was one of the hunters', but there was a part of him that didn't want to believe that. What was the chance of one of them picking themselves up and wanting another swing at him? Besides, wouldn't Kiske stop them?

"Ky, is that Nora?" Dizzy asked, mentioning the horse by the gates.

He soon thought of the dark horse he had attacked and left the base of its neck slashed open until he saw the muscle beneath its gaping flesh. The features, the coloring—

"No."

"Did you bring her?"

He bit the inside of his lip. He suddenly felt numb with the fact that he could have killed his own horse, a creature who kept him sane in his solitude and a creature Dizzy adored.

"No," he said. "I don't know where she is. I haven't seen her since the hunters attacked us in the woods. Here we go."

The two of them stopped at the heavy gates, steps away from escaping this nightmare. He gazed at the bar that braced the gates together, then picked his head up to one of the posts. He saw both men were looking down on them.

"Hey. You're back." one said.

"What's the news?" the other said.

Either they thought he was Ky Kiske or they were just eager to hear the news within the walls of their town.

"It's over," Ky said, "You can open your gates again."

"Did you get the Gear?"

He shook his head. "There was never a Gear. The report was false. Your hunters—Evan Redd is an unjust man. It's his fault this whole thing happened. Now, please, open up your gates."

The men above shifted in their posts. Eventually, the fires went out, then both of them climbed down the latters back onto the ground. The one on the left was younger. Ky limped backwards to move out of their way while they went to the gates, unbarred it and began to pull each side open. The wooden gates must have weighed several hundred pounds each. The men grunted and strained as they slowly pulled them open.

Ky fidgeted lightly in anticipation. He even glanced over his shoulder a few times to make sure that no one noticed them. He certainly didn't want to see his original again. He knew he was too busy with the hunters to go chasing afer him.

He then turned his head back to the postmasters as they continued to pull the gate open. He saw the trail and the woods between the gap. He wanted to grab Dizzy and run, but running was out of the question now—so he placed a hand on her shoulder, and together, they passed through.

"Thank you," he said to the men. "Tell your people they're safe."

One of them paused and poked his head from behind the gate. "Hey, what did Evan do?"

Ky placed a hand on Dizzy's back as he continued to hobble down the dirt road. He felt one of her wings under the sheet. "He kidnaped this girl. He might be escorted by the police soon."

And with that in mind, Ky hobbled a little faster.

* * *

Seeing the Black Forest again was actually a relief. The sounds came back, the howls, the noises of something following them. He knew by the time they climbed up the hill to it—which wasn't so easy on Ky, they were safe. Its evil was surprisingly their only protection from the outside world. And he wouldn't want it any other way.

He let out a deep sigh of relief as the pirates' ship came into view, sitting out there in the field like a sleeping dragon. His knee was throbbing painfully and the exhaustion was starting to take over his body. He wanted to collapse but he couldn't do that in front of Dizzy. He felt his face sweating, despite the chill in the air.

He saw movement at the deck of the flying ship. A few moments later, he saw a group of girls running towards them, screaming, _"Dizzy!"_

The Gear beside him gasped when she saw them and suddenly let go of him, as if he wasn't there anymore. She ran for the girls, laughing. Ky was sent flailing for balance the moment she let go of him and landed on the grass on his backside. "Ow." He placed a hand on his damaged and bleeding knee. He leaned towards it, his head bowed forward.

Soon, finally realizing she had left him behind, Dizzy ran back to him. She stopped in front of him with her hands on her knees. "I'm sorry. Ky, are you okay?"

He didn't know why, but he laughed. "Yes." He never laughed in that sort of way before.

Then, "Dizzy's over here. That guy brought her back."

He looked up to see Captain Johnny walking through the grass towards them, trailed by a small group of girls. For the first time, he saw him without his shades on. He looked at Dizzy, then looked at Ky sitting on the ground. He scratched at his ear and passed him an awkward glance.

"What are you doing on the ground?" Johnny asked him.

"Ky's hurt," Dizzy answered for him.

"Oh." Johnny turned his head to her. "We were starting to get worried about you. It was getting late and we didn't see either of you at the cabin." He then looked down on Ky on the ground, his hands on his hips. "Where you've been with my girl?"

Ky suddenly felt like a teenager who had brought Johnny's daughter home late. He sighed deeply and bowed forward into his knee again. "It's a long story."

Dizzy then turned around to the group and excitedly began to explain, "Ky saved me! There were these hunters, they kidnaped me. . ."

Dizzy explained the story, making him sound like a hero, when he was just lucky and doing what any Gear—or man would have done. While she explained, Johnny looked down on him and smiled. He wasn't sure what it was, but the way he was looking at him, it seemed as if his eyes were trying to tell him something. It made Ky uneasy.


	14. Missing

The following days were quiet, and while another fresh layer of snow covered the Black Forest, Ky was beginning to heal. The new snowfall couldn't come any time sooner. It was the best way to keep him off his feet and hide away like the rest of the world when the snow fell. Of course, Dizzy visited him everyday, just to remind him to stay off his feet, for good measure. 

Now he knew how it felt—

She had left a few hours ago at the threat of an approaching evening. It worried him each time she came and left, but oddly enough, the encounter with the hunters hadn't scarred her and her trust of the woods. She was brave enough to go alone. Perhaps that was the Gear in her he rarely saw.

Luckily for both of them, no one had followed them in the past few days. Most importantly of all, his original hadn't found him. He was expecting to see him again. He watched, though, waiting for him everyday. And this day was no different.

With a book resting against his thigh, he looked up to one of the windows to watch the evening set in thicker over the sky. The sun was still giving its last fight against the night behind the trees. Dizzy would have been back at the Mayship by now. He lowered his head again while he swung an arm over the edge of the chair, picking up a teacup from a small stand beside him. He took a long sip of the warm liquid. On winters like this, a good cup of tea was all he needed to keep warm and content. It was doing its job, as usual.

He set the teacup back down, listening to the bottom of it make contact with the hard wood, the only sound reaching his ears. It had been deafly silent since Dizzy had left. He was beginning to find it uneasy. Missing someone that is.

As he continued to read, the silence interrupted only momentarily, a sound outside drew his attention. He snapped his head up quickly and glanced towards the window out into the frozen white. It sounded like shifting snow, something moving across it slowly, cautiously.

Had Dizzy come back?

Ky began to close the book with his thumb bookmarking his place while he leaned forward. He kept his eyes on the half exposed window. Perhaps it was just a deer or—

He suddenly sat bolt upright, his back completely straight and nearly straddling the edge of the seat. His eyes were locked on the window after getting a glimpse of a figure. A figure in white.

That only meant—

"He found me," he muttered to himself while he slowly rose to his feet, his knee beginning to throb again. He sighed while his eyes were fixed on the window, standing there with his hands behind his back in a military way, one wrist holding the other. He was not looking forward to the new encounter. He knew what was waiting for him after all. He knew what his original wanted.

He inhaled deeply and limped towards the door. If this was his destiny, then he would accept it with dignity. There was no use hiding anymore. He opened the door, expecting to see the young man making his way up to the door to knock or just invite himself in if needed, but he didn't see him. He knew he had seen him. The outfit was unmistakable, even if it was just a glimpse.

Ky then turned his head, noticing something beside a tree a short distance away. There, he saw him, partially hidden, one half of him exposed and the rest behind the tree. He saw one long leg, an armored shoulder and half of his face staring back at him. It wasn't a very good hiding spot, he had to admit. Perhaps he caught the officer off guard.

Ky shrugged one arm and let his hand slap against the side of his thigh. "Well, you found me, I'll give you that," he called to him. "I didn't think you would be able to find me." He began to limp forward. "I was hoping you wouldn't. But I suppose I would have to face up to my crimes some time." He paused and tilted his head as he watched the blonde shift from behind the tree. Something seemed odd, especially the way he was standing.

Maybe the forest had gotten to him—

Ky paused, then held his arm out together, offering his wrists to the officer willingly. "Well then, let's get this over with. You plan to put me on trail, don't you? Arrest me."

He waited for him to speak or move. He didn't.

He didn't take his eyes off his original across from him. Shouldn't he have been straight forward and arrested him by now? He knew he wanted to, ached for it. So, why wasn't he doing anything about his impostor? Why did this great hunter become a sheep? He knew it couldn't have been the forest, not a fearless Gear killer like Ky Kiske.

"Kiske?" He slowly lowered his arms back down, then began to limp forward, trying to keep as much weight off his right leg as he could. He nearly walked on his toe, just barely putting pressure on the damaged appendage. The wrapping around his knee was constricted tightly.

He then halted when the blonde moved. But the movement was odd, not something he seemed known for doing everyday. He saw the blonde slump forward, his hair falling in his face. His legs were half bent, as if they were struggling to hold him up. He knew, although, this wasn't the stance of exhaustion. He almost didn't seem himself.

"Is there something—"

The blonde jerked his head up, revealing a face that was him, but wasn't him at the same time. It looked distorted, it looked—inhuman.

His heart began thumping deep in his chest as he looked at the face. He wasn't sure if it was the winter's air or the _thing_ before him, but he felt a chill run across his own face. He began to limp back, and lost his footing in the snow. He landed painfully on his backside. Not even the icy cold that touched his leg helped. His fingers reached for his knee as he began to pull himself into a sit, making sure he didn't move his leg.

Falling was a bad idea—

Then, more uniformed figures rushed him on all sides until he was surrounded. All of them were wearing the uniform of the other. They were all identical, like carbon copies of one another. Or they were carbon copies like him—

But they were nothing like him. The way they moved, the crude look of their faces, how they stood, they were nothing but poor attempts to replicate Kiske. He was so much more beautiful—and human.

So what were these things?

A panicked thought then crossed his mind. Were the ones who created him still alive? Were they now aware of their failure?

The first one shouldered past its brothers until it was standing before him. Ky's eyes followed up its legs until they met its horrible grey face, where a majority of its hair was pushed into. It then reached a gloved hand to him, while grey fingers stuck out of them gruesomely. They didn't look human, either, not even the grey decay of a corpse. They looked metallic.

"You are coming with us," it said in a hallow and metallic voice. It nearly burned Ky's ears.

Ky tried to move, but the others' hands grabbed for him. He felt himself quickly overpowered, but not yet subdued. A normal man would have been subdued by these things the moment they grabbed him. Perhaps they were unaware that he was not normal.

* * *

The sun rose past the darkness of the trees in the horizon, and the sky burst into a vivid array of colors of red, orange and purple. Dizzy watched it until the end, until they sky grew gray and the woods sickened the landscape. And still she stood there on the deck of the Mayship, beginning to sun herself in as much light that could touch her.

She was the only one to brave the cold and the presence of the Black Forest that watched the ship. Not even a man like Johnny liked the place. Most of the crew stayed indoors. There had been a few snowball fights, but they didn't last long, not until the forest began howling. No one set foot outside unless they had to. The girls called her crazy for going out into the woods just to see Ky. But she didn't mind, as long as she knew he was alright. He had saved her life after all. It was the best she could do to thank him. She knew he enjoyed her company by the look in his eyes and his smiles.

But what worried her now was that the Mayship was almost ready to take off. Novel said all she needed was a few more hours to tweak the engine. This could be their last day here, and Dizzy wasn't ready to leave Ky yet.

"Dizzy! Dizzy, are you coming back in?" May's voice was calling her. "You gotta be freezing your tail off out here. Look, look, it's about to fall off right now!"

She turned her head to see the girl standing by the stairs to the innards of the ship. She was hugging her arms tightly to her body.

"Good morning, May."

"What are you doing out here?"

Dizzy slowly turned her head and eyes back to the forest looming nearby. "Just thinking."

"I have a feeling who you're thinking of," the girl said. "But do you have to do that out here?"

Dizzy turned around and started towards her. "I want to go see Ky. I want to go now."

May placed her hands on her hips. "Boy, you got it bad."

"What?"

The girl waved her on and stepped back into the ship. Dizzy watched her a few seconds before following her back inside where it was warm. Upon the last step, she found May standing before her, her arms crossed. She was grinning this time.

"I shoulda known," May said. "You know, I didn't realize at first, but the way you act around him now—" She giggled.

"You mean Ky?"

"Who else? You're in love with him. And he's in love with you. Johnny told me so." She pointed a finger up and nodded as if what she said was a true and absolute fact.

"But May, he's just a friend. And I want to go see him to make sure he's alright. He's not completely healed yet. I have to remind him to keep off his feet you know."

"You walk through that creepy forest every day for him," May said, "and you don't worry about getting lost or any more hunters. That's true love. I'd do that for Johnny. You see, you'd do anything for the one you love."

Dizzy stared across at her. There was a part of her that found the notion that Ky loved her shocking, but this was coming from May, a girl who always talked about love.

Did Ky truly say that he loved her? She decided to let it go for now until she actually saw him.

"I'm still going," she said. "Tell Johnny I went to visit Ky?" She turned to make her way back up the steps, but when she placed one foot on the first step, May called after her,

"Dizzy, wait." She looked hesitant in what she was going to say next, thumping a hand against her thigh and pivoting one toe. "Umm, you know we worry when you go out in those woods alone. And Johnny said somebody should go with you, since Ky can't walk with you anymore, but nobody wants to go out there in those woods, so—" She sighed and looked down on her boots. "I could go with you this time. . ." She trailed off.

"You really want to go?"

The girl grinned at her, the corners of her mouth pulled back in a nervous grimace. "Not really. But if no one else will go, I will."

Dizzy looked from May to the opening above, then back on May again. "Alright. This is possibly our last day here. I need to say goodbye to Ky before we do leave." She began to start up the stairs again and back up the deck. She heard May's footsteps following after her as she neared the railing that looked over the woods.

"Dizzy, you're not going right now, are you?"

She looked over her shoulder to see May standing a few paces behind her, her hands bunched.

"Yes, I would like to," she said. "Are you still coming?"

"Yes, I guess so, but I hate going in those woods! It's creepy!" May grabbed the edges of her hat and pulled it down so it went over her eyes. The sight of her trying to hide under her hat made Dizzy laugh.

"Don't worry, May, I'll protect you."

* * *

They arrived about an hour, but it was a grueling hour with May. Dizzy had to force the girl to stay by her side by keeping a hard grip around her arm and endure her screams and whimpers. Thankfully, the girl never bolted and Dizzy never had to chase after her, like Ky once had. Ky had explained the woods' tricks and gave her enough guidance to prevent her from succumbing to the fear it wanted. Dizzy had to keep reassuring May like he had done with her when he had volunteered to take her back to the ship. She missed riding with him. She missed Nora.

May released a sigh of relief when the small cabin came into view. By then, Dizzy was able to let go of her. The girl quickly hugged her arms while a shiver rippled through her. "I hope it's warm in there, 'cause I'm freezing!" the girl cried.

Dizzy kept her eyes on the cabin, but the closer she came, something didn't seem right. She couldn't place it exactly why at first.

"It's always warm, May," she said as she walked closer. "It's a nice pla—" She stopped in her tracks as she looked on at the front of the cabin. The door was left open. Her eyes soon cast down, noting the tracks in the snow. There were some areas where the ground was torn, leaving a scar down to the grass. There were several tracks left behind, but she knew they couldn't have been left solely by Ky. They were tracks of men.

Her eyes then slowly wandered back to the open doorway. "The door's left open," she muttered.

"He's probably outside somewhere," May suggested.

Dizzy slowly shook her head. "No. He never leaves the door open. May, I think something's wrong."

"You really think so?"

"I don't know," Dizzy said, and stepped closer to the open doorway. "I don't want to believe something's wrong."

Slowly, as May watched, she stepped into the cabin, which had gone cold from the air that had gotten in. Ever since she had met Ky, it had never been cold inside. It was strange. It was as if Ky had never been here, but he had—

The first thing that greeted her was his sword was lying on the floor. It wasn't in a position where it could have just fallen from the mantel where he kept it. It was lying a few steps from the front door. She found herself standing before it, looking down on the red and black blade. Since he had left the shroud off and remounted it on the mantel, she thought it was rather pretty—the shape of it, the colors, the curves and angles. She didn't take her eyes off the sword as May joined her side. "It's Ky's sword. What's it doing on the floor?"

"Dunno. Maybe it fell."

"But he doesn't keep it near the door," Dizzy said. She caught a shrug from May as she began to wander off to explore the cabin. Her eyes slowly lifted from the sword up to the girl passing a window. She heard something crack under her boots as she crossed the floor, then saw the glint of broken glass scattered below the window where May was standing. She watched as the girl peeled the curtain aside to reveal a gaping hole in the glass. Dizzy gasped and her eyes grew at the sight of it.

May looked down on the shards of glass under her, then back on the broken window. She turned her head to Dizzy, biting her lower lip. "Maybe you're right, Dizzy. Maybe something did happen. You think he's still around?"

"I don't know."

"What about those hunters? You don't think—"

Dizzy shook her head quickly. She shut her eyes tightly, refusing to believe Ky could have been attacked and kidnaped like she had. "Ky said it was over. He said they were going to be arrested by the man who looks like him. They couldn't have come back."

"Well, I'll tell you something about cops," May said with a hand on her hip.

"But May, he said it was alright. He said it was over." She brought a delicate hand up and rubbed it against an eye, which was beginning to tear up. "Someone took him, I think. His leg—" She began to sob lightly while she looked down on the sword again. "He couldn't fight them. Did you see the ground outside, May? There were more of them."

"So you think those guys took him back to that place?" May asked, a bit uncertain.

Dizzy stared at the broken window, as if waiting to see him crossing that small bridge, his black clothing standing out from the white snow that covered the ground and trees, but such a sight never happened.

"I don't know where else he could be," she said.

"Then let's go back and tell the others. I'll take a group down that place. We'll find him and make sure he's okay. We'll bring him home, like he did for you. We owe him."


	15. The Beast

It was like waking from a nightmare, but Ky had woken dreamless. The majority of the time, he was able to remember what he had dreamed about, but not this time. There were no Gears, no raids, and no faint wisp of smoke in the air. What it really came to be was a waking nightmare. His head hurt and the ground under him was hard and cold. His palms felt frozen to the floor as he stared at his naked hands. His knuckles were cut and bleeding. He found himself staring at the crimson sitting on top of each knuckle as if he had been pounding his fist against something hard—a tree, a door—but he couldn't remember doing such a thing. And where the hell did this headache come from? 

Ky blinked slowly, staring at his own blood, mesmerized. He wasn't sure how long he stared at his open knuckles, but his eyes soon began to explore the foreign area around him. His fingers were outstretched across a dirty white floor. There were strange black stains near him that were either pits or scuffs left by the sole of someone's shoe. While he stared at these marks, his mind began to waken further as well, and his mind was full of confused questions.

His eyes rose from the floor to a faded green door a short length in front of him. If he dared to reach out just a bit further, he would be able to touch its cold metal surface. The base of it had a few of those black marks. It was then Ky began to notice this was a cell. A cell.

He winced with the back of his eyes burning in their sockets and a few more various places. The more he moved, other parts of his body began to ache, too. "Damn." He swung his head around, squinting lightly as his eyes took in the white room. It was small but not cramped. There was dust in the air and coated in a thin film across the floor. The pads of his fingers touched it. He dragged his hands towards his body, leaving five long streaks across the floor before he slowly lurched upright with his legs folded under him. The movement only triggered more pain in his poor damaged leg. It hurt even worse than before.

He groaned lowly while he placed a hand upon his knee in a vain attempt to ease it before he began staring at his bleeding knuckles again, trying to recall the cause of their damage. And still, nothing came.

He drew a hand closer to his face until he was staring at the cuts across his flesh again, then picked his head up. He looked at the metal door in front of him as if it had the answers he wanted.

_Where am I?_

The answer came much later as he sat in the cell like the criminal he was.

* * *

He was nearly in a doze, sitting upright against the wall, with his legs outstretched before him when someone finally approached the door. At first, he thought it was a dream, but he quickly learned it was another part of his waking nightmare. He opened his eyes as soft footsteps began to approach the heavy metal door that kept him locked away from the world he had left behind. His ears tuned to the muffled sounds, listening carefully as he could as the footsteps paused before the door, then announced the owner's arrival with a snap of the lock sliding back into the door in a harsh sound that nearly rattled his brain. He looked up from under his brows and hair as the door slid open to reveal a dark brown-haired man perhaps a few inches shorter than his own height. He looked somewhere in his thirties. He wore a familiar white coat, an image that sat in the back of Ky's mind left with that tainted past, but the man under that coat wasn't familiar.

He stared at him and waited.

The man took a few more steps inside but kept his distance. He stood across from him and near the comforts of the door behind him.

"Where am I?" Ky asked him. His tone was dull.

"A home away from home," the man said. "For now. How are you feeling?"

Ky furrowed his brows at the man while he squinted at the same time. "I've been better to tell you the truth. How did I get here?"

By then, the dark-haired man moved towards him and stopped in front of him. He quieted any more of his questions by bending down and placing his hands on his knees as he said, "Slow down first. I can help you. Are you in any pain by chance?"

Ky slowly brought a hand to his head, burying his fingers through his hair. He winced lightly as his fingers triggered pain on his sensitive skull. "Where doesn't it hurt?"

Then, the dark-haired man reached a hand into a pocket of his white coat. "Then let me help you with that. It's why I'm here in the first place." He pulled a strange instrument out of his pocket and drew it towards Ky. He withdrew quickly as he stared back at a fine needle aimed at him while the back of his skull hit the wall behind him. Despite the pain, he kept his eyes on the threatening instrument. It came at him again, but this time, he couldn't avoid it. The long and fine needle imbedded itself in Ky's half exposed neck.

And then he faded, only to wake in another nightmare.

He opened his eyes to the sound of voices and the presence of men around him like animals circling him, but when he opened his eyes, he didn't see menacing faces staring down on him, only shadows and silhouettes. His eyes darted from each figure he could make out. He was in a new room this time, taller, larger. It was dark. It didn't feel like the cold cell, but he knew it wasn't a safe place. He didn't like it one bit, and he didn't like the people around him. He estimated at least five or six of them.

"He's waking up now," he heard one say.

Ky listened to the uneasy shifting of the figures around him. And as they began to move, so did he. But movement didn't come easy. He felt a restriction against his wrists, legs, hips, and pulled.

Straps. Dear God—

"Who are you?" he weakly asked the shadows in the room with him.

"Nevermind that," a male voice responded in the dimness of the room. Ky turned his eyes towards the source, or at least where he thought it originated. "We just need you to answer a few questions. Can you do that? It's simple, really."

"What do you want from me?" Ky asked.

"Some questions answered. I told you."

Ky blinked at a shadow after he had pinpointed its location. The man was a few paces away, tall and lean. Ky couldn't make out any details of him, just like the others. They were all faceless. It made them look like phantoms. But there was something about the tall man standing in the room with him. He stood out from the others. Ky felt his eyes on him, eyes he couldn't see. It made Ky even more uncomfortable.

"What do you want then?" Ky said. "What do you want to know?"

The shadowed man took a few steps closer, taking his position near Ky's shoulder and placed his hands behind his back in a militant stance. He arched his back slightly but didn't come too close to the clone as if he were peering down on a coiled viper. He was lucky the viper was restrained—

"Remarkable," the shadowed man said as he looked on at him closer in the dark. "You remind me of someone I've seen."

That made Ky even more uncomfortable. He knew who he meant and he said nothing to the comment. It would only make his situation worse.

"Do you know who I'm talking about?" the shadowed man asked him.

Ky didn't take his eyes off this man nor did he answer. Of course he knew damn well who he was talking about. What did this man take him for? And he had a feeling this man knew, too.

"Well?" the man said impatiently, trying to thread through Ky's silence. "Not answering? This makes me think you know something about him then."

"What are you trying to get out of me?" Ky eventually said. "If I knew something, I would tell you."

The shadowed man laughed then, nearly spitting on Ky as he stood up straight. He kept his hands locked behind his back. "I think I do. Does the name Ky Kiske sound familiar to you?"

That silence returned to Ky's lips once more for a while as his aching head struggled to make sense of the entire situation. And then,

"You think I'm him then?" he suggested.

Again, the shadowed man laughed. A light spray of spittle touched his cheek this time. He turned his head, wanting to wipe it away, but couldn't. If only—

"No, no, not quite," the man said. "But you look remarkably like him. That's a concern, don't you know that?"

He narrowed his eyes at the man. "I see. I think I know where I am now. Where is he? I thought he was more just than this. Now _that_ is remarkable."

The man laughed again, but this time Ky's cheek remained dry. Thank God.

"What's so funny?" Ky said. He nearly growled it, but held it back.

He listened to a short lived length of silence between them as the shadowed man studied him. For a moment, Ky began to see only the two of them in the room as if he had gained a case of tunnel vision. The others no longer existed nor did they matter to him.

"You're clever," the shadowed man said. Ky thought he was grinning. And the way he was grinning was the grin of a weasel.

"Just like him?" Ky said with venom in his tone.

That grin again.

"I have a feeling you know Kiske," he said. "Or will you laugh at that, too?"

"Know Kiske? If I only had the privilege. I think you are the closest thing I will ever be to him."

Ky paused a moment to gather his next thoughts carefully. "I thought you said you had seen him before. How close were you?"

"Sir Kiske is not a man you pass on the street everyday like so many others," the shadowed man said. "If only that were the case. But you—"

"What about me?" he asked immediately but not eager in his words.

"It's not the same but it would have to do," the man said with a light chuckle.

Ky frowned. "No. I am not Kiske. I just look like him." He bit his lower lip then. Was that too much?

The shadowed man placed his hands behind his back again. He then felt the man's piercing eyes on him even though he couldn't see them. It felt like being watched by an eagle waiting to swoop down on him and catch him in its relentless talons.

"Hmm, you're right," the man said. "Kiske is much different than you. I merely suggested." He paused a long moment, watching him. Then he said: "You fought during the war. Do you remember what the Gears smelled like?" He listened to him inhale the air. "Do you?"

"I do. Most of the time."

"Did some ever take your breath away? Do you remember the smell? Sometimes they'd smell like decay, like death. It would follow them." The man took half a step closer, nearly leaning over him. "I smell a Gear."

Ky's eyes widened in the dark.

"But it's not entirely you," the man said. "It's following you, like that smell always does when you've been too close to a Gear for a while. You never noticed it?"

_A game_, he thought. _He's trying to play some sort of game with me. He wants something out of me. That's all it is!_

He stared at his dark form carefully a moment before saying, "I must have gotten used to it."

The man chuckled. "That's right," he said. "You've been around Gears more than I have. But you would think it would go away after all this time. Perhaps it never will. Shame, isn't it?"

"It doesn't bother me," Ky said flatly.

"Of course it doesn't."

"What do you mean by that?" Ky said, narrowing his eyes.

"I believe the smell will never go away," the man said. "It will always follow _you_."

A short silence lingered. "This is all I need to hear from you. What is the true reason why I'm here?"

The figure shifted. "Hmm, might as well. There's no point beating around the bush. The point is—we could use your help—in understanding."

"Understanding? Understanding what?"

"Gears."

Then, the shadowed man raised a hand from his side and snapped his fingers. Ky watched, but it was the others around him he had put behind him he should have been watching. One moved closer to him at his right, and then Ky felt a sharp sting bite at the side of his neck. He flinched but another held him still as he felt it again. He screamed.

"This will only be an observation," he heard the shadowed man say.

It wasn't long before Ky began to feel light-headed. It was like before with the man he met in the other room, but these people wanted to do more than sedate him.

* * *

Victor Zennos studied the aging monitor connecting him with the Gear clone while his hands were linked behind his back. The black and white image gave it an ageless appearance to it as if it had been dug from an ancient archive, but what was happening behind that monitor was happening in the now.

He drew his face a bit closer to the monitor after he began to notice some movement from the clone, although he couldn't tell if he was fully conscious or not yet. Nor did it matter. He could send one of the scientists to check on him if there was ever a problem.

Zennos' well-trained ears then alerted him when the door opened and in stepped a dark brown-haired man at least half his age, decked in a white lab coat. Jonathan Breke, he was called, closed the door behind him and walked to him. He held himself well. Perhaps there was more than research training in this man. Something burned in his hazel eyes.

"Still watching the subject?" he asked. "Anything yet?"

Without turning his head, Zennos looked at the younger man through the corner of his eyes. "Matter of fact, I am. I saw him moving a little. That's it. I think he's got another hour."

The young scientist looked at the monitors. His hazel eyes searched the small cluster until they found the one he wanted. He sidestepped the retired soldier to get a closer look at the clone. Zennos wasn't sure if it was because of his seniority or the fact of his military history, but this one respected him since he had met him. He knew the boundaries. He was smart. Zennos liked him.

Zennos placed his hands to his sides while Breke watched the subject briefly. The dark-haired man put his fist under his chin thoughtfully. "It should start to kick in soon," he said. He then cast his eyes to Zennos. "You don't mind me staying here, do you? I've got to see this. For the records." He turned his head back to the monitor that watched the clone and tapped a finger over the thick glass with a single finger.

"Have a seat. I heard this might get interesting. Right?" He grinned.

* * *

It took a little more than an hour for it to fully begin, and the result, as they had hoped, did prove interesting. Most importantly, it was going as planned. But a seasoned soldier like Victor Zennos knew not everything went as planned. He was still holding his breath, even after witnessing what had happened behind monitor #15. Breke looked awed and shocked.

Zennos himself still couldn't bring himself to look away from the monitor. It was the sort of fascination you got from watching an explosion. He thought nothing could surprise him anymore, especially a Gear, but this time was different. Zennos had never seen anything like him, either shape or form. He knew this whole plan was going against the Gear's original purpose, but then again, he was already through. He was proven to be officially ruined by time, war and the Gears themselves.

There was no great loss.

He had one last purpose now. Then he was no good to them anymore. It would be the last of him. It would be the last of the failure.

"Is he moving?" Breke said, finally breaking the silence in the room. It would have made Zennos jump.

The military man looked at Breke, then to the monitor and drew himself a bit closer to the image. He narrowed his eyes on the dark being they had been watching for the past few hours. "I think he is," he said. "Just a little." He kept his eyes on the Gear, watching a light twitching. He then turned to Breke with a grin on his face. "Will it be you or me, Breke?"

The younger man looked at him with those hazel eyes flashing. "Of course they can't expect to send one of us in there."

Zennos grinned again, wider his time. "You went the first time."

"Funny. That was different."

Zennos couldn't help but laugh. He then dug a hand into his side pocket and pulled out a coin placed between his fingers to Breke. "Heads to tails?"

The dark-haired man looked up at him from under his brows. "You're kidding me."

Zennos then drew the coin into the palm of his hand and closed his fist around it. "Alright, we'll let them decide. Now, let someone knew it was a success." His eyes slowly returned to the monitor again.

* * *

It was Jonathan Breke who was chosen to check on the Gear. Lucky him. He was starting to feel a wash a dread as he walked down the hall towards the holding cell where they kept the Gear locked away. If it was fully awake now, what would keep it from killing him in a bloody rage? What did he have to protect him? He doubted the sedative would do much of anything now. Besides, he didn't want to get that close to the Gear again. Not now.

He slowed his steps further to the pace of an old man, trying to distance himself the best he could. He was at half the length of the hallway to the cell. His heart was already pounding. He was almost there.

_Afraid? Of a Gear?_

He heard something click behind him. The sound ricocheted off the walls and suddenly found its way into his ears. It sounded like it was directly behind him. Jonathan's heart climbed up into his throat and he snapped his head over his shoulder. What he saw was no monster his mind made him to expect, but he still jumped at the sight of it. Towards the end of the hall, two figures stood in the white and blue garbs of the discarded Sacred Order, heads ducked and feet parted. A long white blade was held at each of their sides.

"Shit," Jonathan muttered under his breath after noticing them. "Following me with those damned robots now, Zennos?" He shook his head and resumed down the hall. As he moved again, he heard the two robots following him in their dry pace—just as he expected. He looked over his shoulder a few times to glance at the two mechanical soldiers, not partially excited about their tag-along. What if they only irritated the Gear?

_I get stuck in the middle of it_, he said to himself.

Complain as he will, at least he had something, even if it meant by artificial means. Maybe the Gear would center on the machines instead of him if it did decide to attack.

His eyes turned up, watching the numbers labeling the doors count up until the dreaded number 15 appeared. By then, Jonathan's footsteps fell short. He stared at the door like it were the door to hell. The footfalls of the robots stopped, too. He turned his head to see the two standing in front of the wall directly behind him, as if they were planning to charge for the door. It wasn't very comforting.

"Alright, as long as you're watching," he said, addressing more than the robots.

He then faced the door again. His eyes scanned it up and down before he forced himself to dig out the key to it.

He slid the door open as quietly as he could, and what was left in the room was a completely different being than he last saw here in person. Jonathan's hair stood on ends and he felt his heart pounding thickly while he watched the dark Gear. He felt like he had just stepped into the lair of a dragon. Before, it had been a cell, and the Gear had been human, if not for those terrible red eyes.

He squeezed the edge of the door he held so tightly to. He couldn't bring himself to move away from the door, fearing the Gear would hear him.

_Well,_ his mind told him, _you're going to have to let go of it eventually._

Knowing the faster he was through with the Gear, the faster he could get out of here, he broke his eyes from the dark creature on the floor momentarily and jerked his hand from the edge of the heavy door. He looked down on it and saw a white line across his palm where he had been holding onto the door to keep it from sliding closed, just in case. It looked like a callouses.

He didn't stare at it very long. What was lying on the floor a few steps away was far more important. The blood would return. His eyes shot to the menacing figure the second he reminded himself of its presence. He could hear it breathing.

_Like a sleeping dragon_, he thought.

He looked at the doorway behind him then on the dark Gear. What would keep the beast from attacking him? Was it even aware of him, just waiting for the right moment? How close was close enough to get to it? Would it remember him?

He licked his lips then looked up at the aging camera watching them from the corner of the ceiling. He hoped Zennos was watching. And those damned robots.

He sighed silently and focused on the Gear again before he dared himself to step closer. He moved as if he were stepping around a layer of glass and he were barefooted. The closer he got, the harder his heart pounded. He had never been so close to a Gear like this before, a live one at least, and he was looking down on it.

Could Gears smell fear like animals could?

He listened to his own heart in his ears as he looked over the Gear. He would have easily dismissed the idea that this wasn't the same being he had met a few hours ago, but it was. His own eyes had been witness. And here he was up close and personal. But the Gear was more dangerous now. There was no humanity left. There were a few hints of its former self remaining—if one looked close enough.

After studying the Gear briefly, Jonathan turned towards the camera watching him like a spider on the wall, and made a circle with his index finger and thumb. As he did so, he caught a movement at the corner of his eye. The Gear was now aware of him. The last thing he knew, he saw large twisted teeth coming at him. And then, he felt warm blood gushing from his neck.

Those eyes, those terrible eyes—


	16. The Beauty

May had been to many places on her voyages, many great places, but this town didn't fall into the category of great. Not one bit. It was dull, and there was something about the people here she didn't like or trust. She never had that feeling about a town she didn't know until she came here to Shamesy. 

"I'm looking for a guy."

She watched cautiously as July began another interrogation of another townsman. She had volunteered to go alone, leaving May and April to watch her back from around the corner. The girl had approached a man wearing a blue denim jacket that looked too light for the weather just stepping out of a pub they had been watching for the past hour in hopes of finding someone who would know something. The whole process seemed pointless once again, and this encounter was about to prove how untrustworthy these people were.

The man crossed his arms over his chest and looked July over with x-ray eyes. "Oh, are you now?"

"Yeah. A red-head."

May leaned back a bit as July began her description of Dizzy's friend. She had lost count of how many times they had described him to each stranger they came across, but there were times they had to be careful how they worded it. He had a history here. It was reason why Dizzy hadn't come with them. They were forced to leave her behind in the woods until they found something, anything, but May was more worried about her than Ky to tell the horrible truth. She already wanted to go back to the ship after spending hours of fruitless searching. If he was here, they would have known. He was someone you couldn't miss.

After July was through, the man shook his head and shrugged, just like everyone else. May then turned her head to the freckle-faced girl standing beside her. "I think we ought to move somewhere else, April."

"Yeah," April said. "Nothing's here. _He_ probably isn't here."

"I bet you're right," May said. "We've been looking long enough. Dizzy's not going to like to hear it, though. Maybe it's time to—"

She then watched April's jaw suddenly drop and her eyes widen as she stared past the corner where July was holding her interrogation. "She decked him," she said flatly. Her eyes never left the scene nearby.

After hearing that, May quickly turned her head back to where she last saw July. She managed to see the man with the denim jacket hit the ground on his back while the girl stood over him with a bunched fist, just drawing back from the fresh blow.

"Oh no," May muttered breathlessly. She wasn't expecting July to do anything drastic and resort to her fists or sword, but she was wrong. With a place like this, May was afraid to think what they did to anyone who disturbed the peace who wasn't one of their own, let alone pirates. And she didn't want to find out. She had a feeling they would do more than throw them in jail.

She ran straight for July and grabbed her by her bandaged arm like a master pulling away her attack dog. She then looked down on the man she had punched. He was moaning in a half-conscious daze while he rolled his head. There was a bit of blood on his lip. She wouldn't be surprised if she had knocked a few teeth out of his mouth. Thankfully, she didn't see any on the ground.

May frowned at the sight of him before she turned to the girls. "Run!"

"But—" July began.

"You know the drill! We gotta run!"

She pulled her into the streets with April following in pursuit. May kept her in count at the corner of her eye while they ran blindly into the streets, away from the pub and any witnesses. They didn't stop until May lead them to an alley that welcomed the fugitive pirates. She still kept her hand wrapped around July's arm and looked at the girl with dangerous dark eyes.

"July, what's wrong with you?"

July returned the look just as dangerously with her single eye. "That guy was a perv!" she snapped. "He grabbed my ass! He was asking for it!"

May frowned. "Okay, nevermind. It's justified."

July then huffed and looked back and forth between the two girls. "Good watch-out," she said sarcastically.

"Sorry, July," April said, lowering her head a bit. "We were talking when it happened." She paused at the look July was giving her. "About the mission, that is. We think he's not here in the first place."

July placed her hands on her hips. "So we've been wasting our time?"

"Well," May said, pointing a finger up, "There is one last place to check. Dizzy told me about it before we left. We should have checked it first, but I didn't want to stir up the bee's nest if she is right. It would have been a bad idea, seeing it's just the three of us."

"Well, what is it?" April asked.

May stayed silent a few seconds before she answered, "She told me I should check where those hunters first brought her here. She said if they do have him, they would be keeping him there."

"Then why are we standing around here for?" July said. "Let's check this place and get out."

* * *

May lead them to a two-story wooden house that looked nothing out of the ordinary. She would never expected this place to be where Gear hunters had dragged Dizzy into and locked her up. Its location and appearance was the perfect deception. Why was a hunter's station smack-dab in the middle of a residential area? May was starting to understand what these people were really like.

The front yard hadn't been shoveled but she did notice footprints in the snow. There were at least five different sets. Some even tracked to the back of the house where a large shed was kept. But she soon noticed it was far too big to be a shed. It was a stable for horses. It was closed up tightly to keep the creatures inside, away from the bitter cold. Dizzy did mention the hunters had horses, so they were at the right place.

April and July trailed behind her as she walked up the steps to the porch and stopped in front of the door. She could see a glow of light behind the shades. She saw nothing suspicious, but she wasn't going to deem it safe yet. What if Dizzy was right?

She then knocked and listened. The door was eventually answered by a boy with dark blonde hair. He was wearing a pair of jeans, a pale tan jacket with sheep's skin lining and fur-trimmed brown boots. He looked no older than seventeen. She was greeted by his green eyes and, "Yes?"

May was nearly taken aback by the boy's handsome looks, but then:

_No, no, no_, she said to herself. _He's much too young_!

She reminded herself of Dizzy and how worried she was over Ky. And oh how much she had been crying—

"Did anyone bring a Gear here?" she asked him.

The boy nearly stumbled back. "Wha-what?"

"This is a hunter's station, right? Was a Gear brought here lately? Like the past few days?"

The boy stared at her in an almost bewildered way. "No. I don't know if you heard yet but this isn't a hunter's station anymore. Who are you?"

May blinked in confusion. "It isn't?"

"No. Several days ago, the International Police Force arrested the other hunters for a crime. The head of the Force condemned what they did, so it can no longer be used as a station. I've been using it as a normal house since then, but they still have me on a short leash. I would have wound up like the others if the head of the Force wasn't so nice." A nervous grin went across his face. "They let me off easy."

So, this was one of the hunters who had kidnaped Dizzy. He may be cute, but May wanted to knock him to the floor with his teeth full of iron. She fidgeted her fingers at her side, fighting the urge to get her anchor to do so.

She couldn't bring herself to talk to him anymore.

"Why are you asking about a Gear?" he asked. "Is there a problem? Hello?"

"No," April said and stepped a little closer. "Actually, we're looking for someone. Maybe you met him. A red-head. Wears a lot of black. Creepy red eyes. Young guy."

"French," July added while examining at her nails.

As they went on their simple descriptions, the boy blinked at each word with his eyes growing larger. He had the look of someone who had information.

"His name?" he asked.

All the girls exchanged glances with each other. Then April said, "Ky. Or so he calls himself."

The boy's mouth dropped. He stared at them as if he were watching their heads spin. "Ky? I met a Ky before. Two actually. What about Ky?"

July placed a hand on her hip and leaned forward a bit. "Word is he's gone missing. A friend of his said he went missing three days ago. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you? Hmm?" She showed him her teeth like a grinning fox.

The boy quickly shook his head. "No, no! You think I had something to do with his disappearance?"

May crossed her arms. "Well, yeah. Weren't you here when he came to rescue Dizzy from the other hunters?"

"Yes, I was," he said slowly.

"Then if you could kidnap her when she was off her guard then you could do the same to him, too."

He sighed and slapped a hand against the side of his thigh. "He's not here," he said. "I wouldn't do that sort of thing. I'm not a hunter anymore. I gave it up. No one here has anything to do with it. Just because something happened to them here doesn't mean it'll happen again. Tell Dizzy I'm sorry for what happened and that Ky's missing." He shrugged and let his hands fall. "She doesn't have to worry about this place anymore."

_Just my luck_, May said to herself, _I think he's telling the truth_.

* * *

They left the town after their talk with the boy who called himself Jonas and returned to Dizzy who was waiting patiently for them where they last left her. She was sitting on a dead tree with her arms hugging her body and her wings drawn closely around her. She was bent forward, trying her best to keep warm. Once she noticed them approach, she picked her head up and watched them. Her eyes were worried and hopeful. 

As they walked towards her, April shrugged. "No luck, Diz."

The hopefulness in Dizzy's face suddenly disappeared in an instant before them, making her turn down again. A few long strands of cobalt fell loose over her shoulder. She looked like she would shed more tears.

"Sorry Dizzy," July said. "We tried. He just wasn't there."

"You looked?" Dizzy asked. Her voice cracked a little.

"We looked, we asked questions—"

"There was one guy," May then said. "You know that place you told me to check? We met someone named Jonas—"

Dizzy's eyes widened as if she had mentioned the name of an old friend. "Jonas."

"And he said all the other hunters are gone," she continued. "They've been arrested. We told him about Ky and he said he doesn't know anything about it. So the only good news is that no one there kidnaped him."

Dizzy sighed and slumped her shoulders. She stared at the ground at her feet. "Ky."

There was a long moment of silence, until April finally spoke. "So what does this mean?"

The group then looked amongst each other as if they were waiting for the right answer. But no one had the right answer, just guesses. It didn't make the situation any better. But would a simple guess give Dizzy hope?

"Someone else kidnaped him or no one kidnaped him at all," July finally said, breaking that awkward silence.

Dizzy picked her head up and turned her eyes to the girl. She mused over the suggestion briefly. "No one kidnaped him at all?"

"Yeah," July said. "What if he's out there on his own? In the woods, somewhere where no one can touch him. Sure it looks bad back there, but he probably knows what he's doing. Now that town's out of the question, I think he's eluded someone else and he's still eluding them. I don't know him, but I bet he's got better survival skills than all of us put together to tell the truth, especially around here. He's just waiting for the dust to settle. That's what I think anyway." She shrugged.

"I hope you're right July," Dizzy said, and sat up a bit more.

"But where could he be?" April asked the group.

"The woods!" May quickly answered as if it were the million dollar question. "If someone was after him they'll be crazy to go in there after him. And we haven't combed it for him yet." Her eyes moved to Dizzy. "What do you think Dizzy?"

The Gear hybrid thought over the possibilities the pirates were handing her for a moment. "Maybe. I guess he would rely on the woods if something did happen. He knows it."

"Exactly," May said. "And he knows what kind of things are in there. What do you say Dizzy? Go back and search the woods for him?"

Dizzy rubbed her chin and thought it over. It didn't take her long to come up with a conclusion. "Yes. If that's what we have to do to find him."

May then began to reconsider this plan. What? Go through those woods where those things were? Was she crazy?

What she did for her friends—

* * *

The search party was reduced to two since it would have been a bad idea to bring April and July along, no matter how badly extra hands were needed. Unlike May, they hadn't been introduced to the haunts and creatures of the woods long enough, if at all. Dizzy wasn't willing to go chasing after three screaming girls if they did get spooked. May she could deal with alone. She was improving, but she still got her freights once in a while. They could spend well up until the next morning searching for Ky. She even snagged a lantern from the ship on the way out just in case they did run into the night. May didn't like the idea of searching that long, though. She was down right against it. 

Well, it was already getting dark, and darker still.

Nothing was going as planned for Dizzy, either. If it had gone her way, they would have been able to find Ky in that town and that would be the end of it, but that idea had fallen apart like an old unwinding clock. She was left with a new and more daunting task, a task that could get May or even herself lost if she wasn't careful. There were things here, things that could touch you and drive you into madness. Ky had told her enough stories and she had even seen them for herself. There were times she lied when she said she liked the Black Forest. It was only because there were things here she couldn't stand. She felt them, too. Even now she began to feel a presence.

Then, a low empty howl sounded in the trees, making May jump and suddenly stop in her tracks. Beside her, Dizzy stopped with the lantern swinging in her hand. The light and shadows around them bobbed. "It's okay May," she reassured the girl. "It's just the forest."

"I wish it wouldn't do that," May said with a shiver. "It always sounds like something's going to come out of there. Something really big." She turned her head up to the trees.

"But we're going to have to go in there eventually," Dizzy reminded her. "If July is right, he'll be in the woods, not on the trail. We're safe on the trail."

May grimaced. "I know. Y-you told me that." She looked at her then the woods beside them. "It's why I don't want to go in there."

Maybe she was right. May was safer on the trail. They both were.

She sighed and looked into the abyss of the woods. Merely walking the trial was a vain attempt in their search. She knew they had to make the brave plunge into the woods soon.

"May, can you be brave?" she asked while looking into the woods.

The girl watched her a long moment. "Listen Dizzy, I know this is important to you." Her eyes cast momentarily to the ground. "Maybe I've been a pain about this place and all, but since it's important that you find Ky—" She looked again into the woods. "I'll go in with you."

Dizzy smiled. "You will?"

"Yeah," May said. "As long as we don't get lost or nothing comes after us. Besides, it's not that scary. I guess you're good luck." She passed her a smile.

Dizzy placed a hand over her mouth and giggled. She knew she wasn't good luck but if she made May feel safer then they would make their venture.

"Thank you, May," she said. "Ready then?"

May looked at her as if she were about to say _Now?_ but she didn't say a word. She only nodded, summoning as much bravery as she could inside of her. Dizzy could see it on her face. She looked like someone who was about to leap from a great height.

Accepting the silent response, Dizzy took May by the hand and guided her into the woods. She felt her hand tighten in a death-grip around hers. It felt as if she could break her hand or cut off the circulation, but Dizzy didn't struggle. She pretended it didn't hurt.

May kept close, nearly shoulder to shoulder with her. May's head and eyes were constantly in motion, watching every thing around them.

Thankfully for her and the both of them, the woods kept quiet and still for a long time. It gave May the confidence she needed. She even began to loosen the grip around Dizzy's hand until she let go. It brought Dizzy great relief, especially for her hand.

They kept shoulder to shoulder as they walked through the woods. Dizzy listened to the snow crunch under their feet at each step they took while she held the lantern in front of them. It created a low glow that kept the darkness at bay and allowed them to see the thickness of the woods in tame pieces. It made her feel as long as she had the lantern, nothing would come out of the woods after them. She heard light defeated darkness. Ky even said that.

It was working so far.

"Where are we going?" May asked.

Dizzy wasn't sure how to answer that. They were just poking blindly in the dark with no guide, no clues and left only to guess at what had happened in the last few days. The fact that Ky's disappearance began three days ago made the search harder, and it would turn into four. It only worried her more. His footprints would disappear, the cold would weaken him and if he were hurt—

A twig snapped. May and Dizzy quickly wheeled their heads to the side and watched the woods, waiting to see something come towards them. But nothing did. The woods fell silent and brooding again. By then, Dizzy would have turned, but that presence she felt earlier was closer. It was like a scent and the wind was blowing it her way again. This presence wasn't like the others here. It didn't frighten her. Somehow, it made her feel safe. It seemed to whisper in the air, _I'm no danger to you._

Then, Ky's voice reminded her, _It plays tricks on you. It can kill you_.

She stared out into the woods with the lantern held up.

"What was that?" May asked nervously.

"I don't know. But I think it's safe now. It was probably just an animal walking through."

May looked at her skeptically through the corner of her eye. "Are you sure about that?"

She thought about the presence continuing to swim curiously in her mind. "Well, if something was out there we would have known by now. It's safe. We can keep going. Just stay by me." She reached her hand out and took her by the arm just above the elbow. May surprisingly didn't protest as she gave her a light tug to get her going again. The girl followed along her side and stayed just as close as before.

As they moved on, the sensation of that unseen presence never left her, either. It felt like it was following her.

And it was.

By the time she noticed there was a creature following their every move, it was too late. It rushed at them like a black storm. Dizzy barely saw it against the dark until it nearly brushed her as it lunged for May. It knocked the girl to the ground and released a long and deafening roar.

May stared in shock at the creature before her, her eyes bulging and her mouth hanging agape in a silent scream. She was sitting on the ground with her hands gripping the dirt and snow, faced off with it. Eventually, the creature closed its mouth only to wrinkle back what counted as lips and snarled at the girl. Dizzy could still see its twisted teeth even with its mouth closed.

May began to inch backwards on her hands and feet, then finally broke eye contact with the creature. She looked directly at Dizzy with _Help me_ written all over her face.

"Di-Di-Di-Di—" she stuttered as she shivered violently, too afraid to speak rational words.

Dizzy couldn't take it anymore. How could she stand here as this creature was about to kill her friend and not do anything about it? She had to do something now!

She stepped forward and spread her arms, trying to redirect its attention. "Stop it!" she screamed. And by her surprise, it listened to her. It stopped snarling and turned its head to her. It watched her a moment before it began to approach her.

"Dizzy!" May cried out. "Watch out! It's coming for you!"

Despite May's alarm, Dizzy watched the dark creature approach her. Its head was set low, and she noticed it limping lightly on its back leg. It showed no intention of harming her. She would have refused its trick this time, but she couldn't help it. It was like it was speaking to her, sending her its apology for its undesirable behavior.

She let it approach her until it was face to face with her. It was then she saw the mark and its eyes.

Those eyes—

Slowly, she reached up and took the creature's head gently in her hands. "May, look, it's eyes. It's Ky."


	17. Trust

"You're kidding me, right? _This_ is Ky?" 

Of course, who would believe her? She probably looked like a kid who brought home a vicious wolf and said it was the family dog, but she still stood by her word, no matter how many looks she got or how many of the pirates thought she was crazy. Johnny himself nearly jumped out of his skin when he first saw the creature following behind her. And the look in his eyes—

She turned her head to the dark Gear watching them. Yes, it was true, he looked nothing like the Ky she knew, but it was him—somehow. It seemed the eyes of a human couldn't see it, but to the eyes of a Gear, it was clear.

The sight of him would send someone screaming, especially with the teeth that arched out of each side of his mouth. They reminded her of the downward curve of a boar or even a Saber Tooth tiger she had seen in books. They looked like they could snap bone in half easily if he bit someone—accident or intentional. His whole head was wolf-like, minus the Gear mark on his forehead. A few strands of mahogany colored hair brushed it, yet the mark was unmistakable. It looked like it had been branded onto him, the mark lighter than the black against it. His whole body was black except the thick mahogany mane that ran from the base of his long neck to the top of his head. There was even a mahogany colored tuft at the end of his tail. The black pattern of his forelegs was cut-off by a set of powerful bird-like limbs that began from the elbows. The talons that gripped the ground were massive and could split someone's belly open with a single swipe or crush their skull.

There was no trace of humanity left, just a strange creature that looked like someone had cut and pasted.

How could anyone recognize him as the Ky she knew? Why, those burning, fearless eyes. '  
She looked into those red eyes and said to Johnny, "Yes, it's him. It's him." She passed the other Gear a grin. She felt that he was uncomfortable. She _felt_ it. It was another change she began to notice. Was this how full Gears really worked?

"Listen, Dizzy, I know you're worried about him and all, but I don't think. . ."

She dropped her shoulders. "You don't believe me," she said, frowning. She then stepped closer to the dark Gear. She placed one hand under his chin to lift his head up. "Look. Look at his eyes. It's how I knew it was him."

Johnny chewed on his lower lip as he looked at the Gear. "There's not a chance your Ky and other Gears might have the same eyes like that, could there?"

_He's not going to believe me_, she thought, and sighed. She let go of Ky's—or Gear-Ky's—chin. She then stared down on the floor and on the talons of his front feet. "No," she said. "Only he has eyes like that. They're special." She looked up at the Gear then, who pulled his ears forward. They were tipped by extra black fur. Those ears were placed at the side of his head and were longer than a wolf-like triangular shape they were supposed to mock.

There were mistakes.

"So what happened?" Johnny asked and shrugged. "He wasn't able to turn into this before, was he?"

She looked from Gear-Ky to Johnny. "I don't think so. He was almost human. I don't know how to explain this."

Johnny then nodded towards the Gear. "Can _he_?"

"He hasn't spoken yet," she said. "I don't think he can speak anymore."

Johnny looked at the strange creature and rubbed his chin. "That's tough."

"But this must be from his disappearance. I just don't know how, though." She shrugged.

"Dizzy, tell me a little more why you think this is the Ky we know?"

She turned her head away and looked over the dark, slim body of the Gear. Her eyes found his right back leg, which he had been favoring time to time when he stood still. Often saw him leaning to one side to relieve the weight on it or he wouldn't stand on it at all.

"His leg," she said, and pointed. "This Gear has the same injury as Ky. It's the exact same wound. He limps on it, too."

Johnny scratched idly at one ear, not looking too convinced. He looked like he was only humoring her. Was he humoring her from the start? How could anyone believe that the creature in the room with them was the man (or Gear) who had set her leg and kept her warm, the man who had faced off with the woman in red, the man who had rescued her from a band of hunters, the man who had elected to be her friend—

"What are the chances of that being a coincidence?" Johnny said.

"You don't believe me," she said. "You just don't believe me."

"Is this a Gear thing?" he said with a finger in his ear and his face expressed like he was trying to explain sex to her. "But what is it you want me to do? Turn him back? Find out who or what did this? Keep him here?"

_Keep him here_, her mind quickly repeated back to her. But instead she said, "All of it."

Johnny's jaw dropped. "Listen Dizzy, I don't think—"

She looked at the dark Gear beside her then to Johnny. "You just don't want him here, do you? Everyone else was afraid of him—"

"It's not that I'm afraid of him," he said and glanced at Gear-Ky. The Gear pulled his lips back, showing more of his dangerous teeth to him. She knew Ky was never quite fond of the captain, seeing how he never stayed long around him or talked to him much, but it was no way to behave. He caused Johnny to take a step back.

"Because he's a Gear?" she said. "You know, he was a Gear in the first place. Like me. He just didn't look like a Gear. So why did you let him on the ship then and not now?"

After a few second hesitation, Johnny said, "Well, I was kind of hesitant when I first met him, too. He did look like that cop. So it's nothing personal."

"I see," she whispered and bowed her head. At the corner of her eye, she saw Gear-Ky's wolfish head lower slightly until he was at eye level with her. He gazed at her with his amazing ruby eyes, and at that gaze, she began to feel that warmth she felt in the woods.

"Aw, come on, Dizzy," Johnny said, noticing her distress as well. "You know I hate to see you upset. I hate to see any lady upset."

Gear-Ky snorted at Johnny, then she felt the hairs of his tail touch her ankle as he wrapped the tip around her like someone would an arm. He was getting agitated again. Or was he? Was he trying to comfort her?

"What would make you happy, hmm?" Johnny asked and sent her a charming grin.

Dizzy looked at him then on the dark Gear beside her. She found his sharp eyes again, eyes that seemed to speak to her. They were intelligent and savage. She reached her hand out and set her hand upon the top of his head, feeling the hairs thread through her fingers.

"I'll take him back," she said while she looked into the Gear's eyes. "I think that would make everyone here happy." She patted the Gear's head as if saying to him, _It's alright, it's not your fault_.

She then began to lead him away and out the room. As he turned his lean and sleek body, she heard his front claws clicking against the floor after her.

Then, just before they reached the threshold, Johnny called after them. "Dizzy, wait."

She paused and so did Gear-Ky.

"Dizzy. I asked what would make _you_ happy."

She watched him a moment before she said, "I think you know the answer to that question," before she turned her head and lead Gear-Ky into the corridor. She listened to his claws click across the floor. It picked up a rhythm the more they walked. They made a slight grinding noise as the talons dug into the floor a bit. She hoped Sephy wouldn't find claw marks on the floor next time she cleaned.

The sound followed her up to the deck where it became even sharper against the metal surface. The majority of the snow had been swept away and pushed off the side by the crew. There were only a few spots left behind but there weren't enough snow patches to muffle Gear-Ky's gait.

It didn't matter. No one was on deck. Everyone had fled inside since they had seen him earlier. They had left the task of clearing out a runway to go into hiding.

She sighed as she thought of the welcoming he got. May had stayed well behind, even after she had tried to explain to her it was really Ky. She barely said a word after the violent encounter with him in the woods.

She moved to the railing. She wrapped her hands around the cold metal and looked down. No one was on deck or on the ground. Everyone must still be in hiding. She blew out a mouthful of frost and pulled back. When she turned, that was when she saw that not everyone had gone inside. She saw May sitting behind a cannon so it hid her body and blocked off most of the wind that blew across the deck. Her legs were hanging over the edge.

"May," she said.

Spotted, the girl slowly peeked out from behind the cannon. The first thing she noticed was her face was emotionless, something she never saw in May before. She then watched her narrow her eyes.

Was she mad at her?

"May? What are you doing?"

May blinked blankly and shifted from behind the cannon. She swung an arm around it like she would a friend. "I don't know," she said. "Just enjoying the view."

_Something isn't right_, Dizzy told herself. _Why would she say that? She hates this place._ She looked at her suspiciously then looked where May had last had her sight on. She squinted at the woods across the clearing, studied it, but saw nothing.

"May, there's nothing out here. Why are you really out here? Is there something wrong?"

Her face remained blank. She turned around to stand, but when she went on her knees and saw the creature by Dizzy's side, she frowned. "_He's_ still here?" May then set herself on one knee. She leaned closer to the cannon and wrapped both arms around it. She began to turn the heavy iron barrel until she had it aimed at the Gear. "Don't you try anything funny!" she shouted at him.

"May!"

Near her, Gear-Ky snarled.

"Sure, sure, you're tough now," May said from beside the cannon.

Gear-Ky stared down the barrel of the cannon with his ears pinned and tail twitching in agitation. Dizzy wasn't too far away from it herself. She was possibly one sidestep out of May's range. What would happen if she did fire that thing?

She couldn't think about it. In an instant, Dizzy's serenity went skittering away. "Stop it!" she screamed. "May, stop this at once! Get away from that thing! Now!" Her wings were spread and quivering.

Fear began to spread across May's face. She pulled away from the cannon and stood, never taking her eyes off Dizzy. "S-sorry, Dizzy," she stammered. She now looked like a guilty child who had just been scolded. Dizzy although was still angry. And so was Gear-Ky. She could hear him growling and pacing behind her.

"You don't trust him, either," Dizzy said. "No one trusts him and no one believes me." Her eyes began to well over. "Why?"

"Dizzy," May began but paused when Gear-Ky moved beside Dizzy. She felt his tail find her ankle again and heard him make a sound in his throat that sounded like a machine gun going off. He was purring. He held his head close to her, which she patted while he stared across at May. May stared back, but not at the Gear. "Oh geez. Dizzy, I'm sorry. Really, I am." She then turned the cannon around so the barrel was aimed over the side of the ship again. Once the weapon was secure, she took a seat on the ground, cross-legged, and patted at a spot in front of her. "Come on, Dizzy. Just make sure he won't do anything."

_I think she wants to listen now._

Dizzy slowly nodded and walked over to the girl, leaving Gear-Ky behind. She took a seat in front of May while he stood quietly, his tail twitching back a forth. Those soul searching eyes watched them.

"No," Dizzy said. "He won't hurt anyone."

"Good," May said. "I'm really sorry if I made you mad, Dizzy. He scared me, that's all."

Dizzy frowned. "So you wanted to kill him?"

"No, I—"

"You aimed that cannon at him, May," she said, raising her voice slightly. She felt Gear-Ky stirr uneasily behind her while May took a moment to build her defense.

"It wasn't going to hurt him," May said. "I was just aiming it at him. . .to scare him. Anyway, he's a Gear, it wouldn't—"

"He's a Gear," Dizzy repeated. "Because he's a Gear, you aimed a cannon at him?"

"Well, only magic can hurt a Gear, right?" May blindly said.

_I've had enough_, she said to herself, and began to rise to her feet. She shook her head as she did so. "I'm taking Ky home now." She then turned, beginning to feel a lump developing in her throat, but she fought to ignore it and the rage of Undine and Necro. No, she wouldn't let them find their way into this argument. This was hers and hers alone.

"Dizzy. Dizzy."

She walked to the dark Gear watching her. His head was tipped down, the mark clearly visible. He looked across her as if he wanted to say, _Should I stay out of this?_ As July would say, he almost had that stupid male look.

She brushed the thought away and walked up to him quickly. She wanted that comfort that always seemed to surround him. She wanted _him_. She reached her hands out until they touched his chest. Her hands squeezed a handful of black fur with her fingers burying into the warmth of him. She leaned into him as she would a friend—or lover. Her cheek fell against the base of his long neck. She felt him move against her but had no intention of pulling away.

"Why are they doing this, Ky?" she said, her voice muffled against his muscular neck. "I thought they were my friends." She began to wet his wonderful black fur with her tears.

"Dizzy, wait. Dizzy!"

May was calling her. She pulled her face from Ky's neck and looked over her shoulder to see the girl approaching, then stop once she decided she was close enough to Gear-Ky. She wasn't even in arm's length.

"I didn't mean to say it that way," May said.

Dizzy frowned at her and kept her hands on Ky. "But you still said it. A cannon wouldn't hurt him like magic, so you aimed it at him! Or so that's what you think. What if it did hurt him, even just for a little while? You knew it would." She glanced around the deck. "You and the others used them against the Gears."

The lump in her throat began to swell, forcing her to stop.

"But that was different," May said.

Dizzy wiped her hand across her eyes. "Is it?" she asked.

May stood there, staring. She didn't answer immediately. Dizzy didn't think she would answer at all. "S-sure," she eventually said.

Dizzy lowered her brows and studied the girl. The way she said it, the expression on her face—

"Why should I believe you?" Dizzy asked skeptically.

At that, May looked as if someone had stabbed her through the heart. Dizzy would have regretted saying those words, but she felt May had done the same to her, as well as everyone else.

"D-Dizzy," May whispered.

As harmful as it was, as much as she wanted to take it all back, where the disbelief and distrust began, Dizzy had to remain strong and stand by her own beliefs. Weren't they true? Weren't they for another Gear? One she knew.

Then, Gear-Ky shifted, making her reassert her balance. She had to take a half step with him. She kept her hands on him, though. She felt he was becoming uncomfortable again. She knew why.

"I have to take him home," she said.

Perhaps that was the best decision right now. If Gear-Ky was out of sight and out of mind, everyone would start getting back to normal. His presence was starting to sour everyone. Maybe it wouldn't be long before they started turning on each other and blamed the Gears.

"You don't have to!" May then shouted. She hadn't noticed until now that May was crying. It wasn't often that she saw May cry like this. She even tried to hide it by swiping at her eyes, but there was no use hiding it now.

"May," Dizzy said, a little stunned.

"You don't have to," May said with her voice thickly cracked. "He can stay. If that's what you really want."

Dizzy froze at what she said. What would make her say that? She knew she didn't want him near her. And what about everyone else?

She released her hands from Gear-Ky and walked up to the girl. "May," she began, but the girl went on.

"No one's going to force him to leave," May said. "We're all being stupid. _I'm_ being stupid! He's a Gear, you're a Gear. You're really nice, Dizzy, we all love you. So what if he can be like that around humans? Can you do that, huh? Can you make sure he's like you?"

Dizzy stood in front of the girl, watching her cry, watching her rub her eyes when the tears fell. She then wrapped her arms around her, and in that moment, all the doubts, hatred and arguments washed away in a cleansing flood. "You're a good friend, May," she said. "Thank you. Maybe he won't stay long, at least until we find out what happened to him. He'll stay out of the way." She then heard the clicking of claws approaching. When she turned her head over her shoulder, the dark Gear paused once he was spotted. His head was held high with his neck finely arched. Those eyes found hers again.

"What's he doing?" May asked and peeked over her shoulder to look at him.

"I don't know. Following me. He's been doing it since I noticed it was him in the woods." She then pulled away from May and looked at the odd creature, who joined her side loyally, his head level to hers. Dizzy reached a hand out and scratched him under the chin.

May watched this. "Dizzy, you didn't pick up a Gear, you picked up a dog." She began to giggle but stopped when she found herself under the gaze of the dark Gear. His eyes were locked onto her, his mouth agape, showing a narrow view into those dangerous jaws. May took a step back. "Why is he looking at me like that?"

"Ky, stop it."

As if she had pulled back on an invisible chain, the Gear stopped what he was doing and turned his head to her.

He listened to her.

Like a dog.

* * *

It felt like being on trail. She was the attorney and Gear-Ky was the defendant. She sat on a wooden chair with the Gear in question sitting on the floor beside her in a sphinx position. He seemed to be listening to everything being said. He turned his head time to time to whomever spoke. He always kept an ear turned towards her. Johnny, the judge stood across them from behind an old study, meanwhile, May, the witness, stood aside. 

"He listens to everything she says," May explained. "Not just listen, he does it, too." She then pointed a finger at Dizzy. "Didn't you mention something like that before all this happened?"

Dizzy nodded. "When I first met him," she said. "We were talking in the cabin and he was getting angry. I told him to sit down and he did it. He just did it. He seemed stunned afterwards. He even asked me to do it again." She smiled.

"Wow, a guy who does everything you say," May commented aside. "That's lucky."

"He told me I can do that because I'm a. . .a _Commander_ Gear," she went on. "I didn't understand what he meant by that and maybe I still don't. He didn't explain it clearly. He said it like he didn't know, either." As she looked at Johnny, his face seemed to go pale and his mouth was hanging agape.

"I think he knew," he said.

"Then why didn't he tell me the truth?" she asked, then looked down on the Gear by her feet, almost as if she were expecting him to answer. He never did.

The room remained silent until Johnny began, "Well, you see Dizzy, Commander Gears—"

Gear-Ky suddenly rose, snarling a warning at the captain, but Dizzy instinctively grabbed him by the nape of the neck, where the base of his skull met his neck. She had grabbed a handful of his mane. "Ky, no! Don't."

Caught and listening to his kind master, the Gear looked at her through the corner of his eye and sighed. He gave one last look to Johnny, who was on his feet, the desk the only thing separating them if Dizzy hadn't been there, and resumed his position on the floor. She reluctantly let go of him.

"Why'd he do that?" May asked.

"I think it's something I said," Johnny said and looked down on the Gear. "Or something I shouldn't say. Isn't that right, Ky?" The Gear continued to look upon him mutely, but gave him a response by pulling his wolfish lips back and showing his jagged yellowed teeth. Johnny held his hands up and nodded several times to show him he understood. "Okay, okay."

Dizzy reached down and grabbed a fistful of Gear-Ky's mane, just to be on the safe side and said, "Johnny, why would he do that? Why would he not tell me about Commander Gears? Is there something wrong?"

She knew he wanted to tell her, but with Gear-Ky between them, it was better to keep his lips tightened. He even looked at the Gear to reassure him he wasn't going to go against his wishes. He looked at him long.

"Well, the war was pretty tough," he said and removed his hat to run his hand through his hair. "You didn't run into Commander Gears often. In fact, there was only one—"

Gear-Ky growled.

"Okay, okay! We'll get back to why we're here. Dizzy, let's say he will do everything you say." He paused. "Are the girls safe around him? I hate to look anti-Gear, but you know. We don't want any accidents. He's a little different than last time I saw him. What if one of the younger girls snuck up on him? What if someone stepped on his tail or even looked at him the wrong way? How would he handle that? He seems to have a shorter fuse now. Can you prove to me—"

At the corner of her eye, she saw Gear-Ky stand and suddenly and without provocation, charge for May. She couldn't grab him in time, he slipped through her fingers as if he had been coated with oil. The girl screamed and backed herself against the wall behind her. But it wasn't May he was aiming for. She happened to be standing beside the door. He rammed his head against it, making it fly open.

He freed himself from the room and fled down the hall.

Johnny and Dizzy stared at the gaping wound that was the doorway, while May stood beside it, shivering.

"What the hell?" Johnny muttered as he stared.

Then, Dizzy was up on her feet. She chased after the Gear. Johnny shot to his feet and followed.

When they found Gear-Ky, they found him by a scream from one of the girls. He was over top August who was laying on the floor at the base of the stairs, crying and screaming at the same time. His neck was arched, while his head hovered over her. He was standing on her back with one of his great talons, pinning her. There was a group of girls on the stairs, screaming and calling her name vainly.

The scene looked bad.

"Won't hurt anyone?" Johnny said, and ran for the girl and the Gear. When Gear-Ky noticed him rushing towards him, he picked his head up and snarled like an animal trying to defend its fresh kill.

Johnny stopped and glared at the creature. "Hey! Away from the girl! Get me?"

The Gear wasn't threatened at all. He passed him another snarl, a little louder this time.

"Ah shad up!" Johnny shouted at him.

Enough. She wouldn't have them fighting amongst themselves, and she had a feeling Gear-Ky would strike first. But Johnny was well on his way on doing that, too. It was a coin toss result. And she wasn't willing to watch the fight. She ran forward and stopped when she found herself in the Gear's gaze. They were no longer raging. They were trying to speak, and Dizzy began to listen.

"Johnny," she said calmly. "He didn't do this."

* * *

She cried. She cried hard. 

The early morning wind blew across the deck of the Mayship and cut her exposed skin, but she barely felt it. She barely felt anything anymore. It was the way she always felt when she or any other Gear was falsely accused.

She thought the Jellyfish Pirates were different, but when you brought in a true Gear, they changed. They turned into the type of humanity she knew since her youth.

Stop the Gear. Capture the Gear. Kill the Gear. Hate the Gear.

She was afraid, afraid of what they would do to him because of a false crime. If they wouldn't believe the Gear in question was really Ky, why would they believe he never attacked August?

So she ran, escaping with him onto the deck like a fugitive; although she made a lousy fugitive. She fell after clipping her foot on a rusting upturned slab of metal. That was when the downpour of tears came in. It was only a matter of time before the pirates would find them. And then what?

She knelt on the deck, crying into the fur of the Gear she was supposed to help. She still saw the looks the pirates gave her when Gear-Ky was over the girl. Even Johnny. Especially Johnny.

"Dizzy! Dizzy!"

_They're coming._

She pulled her face from the warmth of Gear-Ky's body and looked up. She saw Johnny, April and July coming towards them.

"Dizzy," Johnny said as they approached, slowing into a walk.

She tensed as they neared, but then a soft voice crossed her mind:

_Don't run. Not yet. Now relax._

She did and watched the pirates walk up to them. Johnny was first to speak.

"Good," he said. "You're still here. I was hoping you'd still be here. We all did." He stopped and looked at Dizzy for a long time. She couldn't see his eyes from behind his shades but she wished she could. "I want to say this first: Dizzy, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the way we're acting." He reached a hand around and scratched at the back of his neck. "What you said was right. After we got August into sickbay, she told us she fell down the stairs. She slipped and broke her leg when she was horseplaying with the other girls. There weren't any marks on her that showed he ever touched her. He must have seen her fall or heard the girls screaming when she fell. She and the other girls said he only stood over her and kept her from getting up. I just. . .jumped to conclusions. He's a good guy, your Gear friend. He might as well saved her leg. She's being tended to, so. . ." He took his hat off and lowered it in front of his chest, then looked at the dark Gear. "Thanks, uh, Ky?"

_Now he believes me?_ she thought. _After all this, now he believes me?_

By then, as if he were reading her thoughts, Gear-Ky turned his head to her and bobbed his head in a nodding motion.

He was nodding! And he understood!

"I think he accepts," she said to Johnny.

"But do you?" he asked.

She blinked at him, the burn of now dried tears still in her eyes.

Forgive him? Forgive him for acting—human?

"Yes, I do. But. . ." She paused as a whispering voice said into her mind,

_The woods. Please. I'll ask one last time._

"But?"

She shook her head when she heard the real voice of Johnny enter her ears. She then said like a translator, "I think I'll take Ky home. He'll be fine there. I'll figure out what happened to him. I am a Commander Gear anyway."

* * *

A tomb. The place was reduced to a tomb. Bodies of men and a women were scattered throughout the base, along with a few bodies parts. Many of the bodies were unidentifiable, turned into remains than corpses. One man had his belly split open with his intestines spilled out onto the floor like giant worms. A couple of other organs had fallen out, too. He had seen a man with his head nearly ripped off, if his vertebrae hadn't been connected still. There had been a woman lying on her chest with her head turned completely around, her clouded eyes had stared back at him. And the bloody arm left lying on the floor— 

Don't forget about the arm.

And he could have ended up like those poor bastards. How he didn't would have been considered lucky, but Victor didn't believe in luck. After watching Breke's violent death, he sent out a small band of Robo Kys to aid the other two, but that only seemed to piss the Gear off. He watched their painless demises, his commands gone pointless. Then all hell broken loose.

So did the Gear.

Victor thought it would only kill the poor suckers who found themselves in its path, but when it passed the door, it sniffed him out like a dog. The Gear raged, looking for trouble. Victor watched its shadow under the door, he watched every movement, and then, it was gone, only to return—and unlock the door.

Now he had been in many scraps with Gears, but this one topped them all. This one had been one smart son of a bitch. He saw it standing at the doorway with an arm in its mouth like a dog holding a stick. In the hand of that arm was a key-card.

"Halt," he commanded it, but the Gear didn't take his command. Of course, why would he think it would? Gears only listened to Commander Gears.

It dropped the arm, however, and looked across him with its blazing eyes. Then it charged. He wasn't sure if he was rusty or the speed of the Gear, but as he avoided its first attack and tried to run past it, the creature grabbed him by the leg. He would have ended up like the others, but after it grabbed him, the Gear leg go and slipped back into the corridor. Perhaps it just wanted him to suffer and die a long and painful death.

It did remember him. Somehow.

Now he sat in the security room where he had watched Breke die, with his back resting against the terminal of the observation monitors. All of them were blackened. His leg was wrapped where the Gear had bitten him. It was shattered, not just broken. He knew it. He still remembered the snapping sound it made when the Gear bit him. The blood from the attack and where he had dragged himself was still on the floor. But the room wasn't as bad as others. There was a room full of the dead. And he would be next if he didn't drag himself out of here.

He reached up and grabbed the cane he had taken from a dead man.


	18. Dream Chasers

Dizzy didn't stay long on the Mayship. She waited only a few minutes before she and Ky (Gear-Ky she now referred to him as) braved the woods and walked to the cabin where he belonged. But it wasn't the happy homecoming she thought it would be. Gear-Ky had his nose to the wind like a bloodhound while he stood over the man-made bridge, his razor-sharp claws digging into the wood under him until he left wounds on it. He watched the area intensely. 

"You're home now," she said, trying to ease him. "Don't you remember this place?" She placed a hand on his neck, but the loyal Gear didn't heed to her. He stared out before he pulled away, leaving her to watch in awe as he limped across the clearing. The ground broke under his massive talons each step he took. He moved slowly and with a hobble of his back leg, but that didn't rob him of his grace.

He paused momentarily to glance at the cabin, then moved on a little further down where a few young trees grew separate from the haunted woods. There, he stopped and began to show a strange interest in them. He nosed and pawed at the hard ground until he tore it.

Something was up. If he could sense something, why couldn't she? Necro and Undine weren't even putting her on the alert.

She went to him while he continued to investigate the trees suspiciously. She heard him growling when she closed in on the Gear. He didn't acknowledge her presence, though, and slowly wove in and out of the tress, careful where he placed his feet. It looked like he could easily trip over his own front feet if he didn't pay attention.

Each movement seemed carefully planned. He looked like a predator on the hunt. But what was he hunting?

She moved closer, behind his tail, and that was when he snapped his head around. He snarled at her, but the sound quickly stopped once he noticed who he was growling at. His eyes widened and his ears went back.

"What are you do. . .oing?" She watched as he maneuvered his way between two trees. His slender body just made it through, and began to make his way back towards the cabin. This time, his pace was a little faster.

He paused by the front door, swinging his tail, and looked around. He looked like a dog trying to find a misplaced stick. His eyes went every which way, his head paused only a few times.

She watched him before she went up to him again, keeping in his line of vision rather than surprising him. He didn't seem too interested in her, though. He kept up his blind search for whatever he was looking for. His ears rotated. His eyes scanned feverishly. His teeth flashed while another growl rumbled lowly in his throat.

Did he remember what went on here?

She stood aside as he pulled his head up and looked at the broken window beside him. His mouth gaped slightly and snarled before he moved towards the front door. That snarl didn't stop.

She watched him move his muzzle up and down the face of the door as if he were eyeing it up before she dared herself to walk up behind him and place one hand upon his neck. She reached the other out and slowly swung the door open. Its hinges creaked until it stopped. "Here you go."

Gear-Ky's ears went up and watched the dim room unfold before him. He stood there a moment before he went inside, his head leveled and his tail following behind him. His claws clicked across the floor as he crossed it.

That had been a few hours ago, and Gear-Ky was home. She watched him as he laid by the roaring fire with his bird-like front legs extended out in front of him, his neck arched just so. His body seemed to glisten as the fire reflected off his black fur. He was absolutely beautiful. Powerful. Glowing. He stared into the fireplace, barely noticing her anymore.

Or so she thought.

_"You're staring."_

Dizzy blinked and sat up straight. There it was again. The voice. It was a whisper in her head, distorted like static, but this time, it was more clear, more louder. She had begun to hear it when she returned to the Mayship, but she didn't think anything of it. She was sorry she did now.

Then, Gear-Ky turned his head to her. _"Why are you staring at me like that? Dizzy. . ."_

It finally made sense. She suddenly jumped with her hands gripping the cushion under her. She nearly jumped out of her seat. Instead, she bounced. "Ky!" she cried.

His ears flicked back like a dog being caught in its own guilt. He didn't take his eyes off her.

_"Is there something wrong?"_ the voice said.

"No!" she cried excitedly. "It's you! It was you! Ky, I can hear you!"

That wolf face of his seemed to grin. In fact, he was grinning. It was a proud sort of grin.

She then broke down into tears. "It's you! It is you!"

* * *

That night, she didn't think she would fall asleep, but she did. She expected to dream of the grove or some adventure with the Jellyfish Pirates, but this one was different. This dream she didn't like. She found herself lost in a maze of white. The walls were white, the floors were white. There were countless rooms. It reminded her of a hospital, but it wasn't. It was something more sinister. 

Someone was following her. His shadow followed her through every corner while his footsteps thumped along after her—walking, never running after her, like the world was caught in slow motion. She never saw his face or any detail of him.

In the dream, she couldn't turn around to face him. All she could do was run. But she just couldn't get away, no matter where she went or how fast she ran.

He gained again, and he reached his shadowy hand out, grasping her by the shoulder. In his other hand, there as a strange instrument. A long, thin needle stuck out from the end of it. She pulled, wiggled and writhed.

She was powerless. There was nothing her Gear powers could do, not even Undine and Necro would respond to her. It was as if she wasn't a Gear at all.

She then screamed. She screamed herself awake, still thrashing and clawing until she noticed she was no longer in the white hallway but Ky's bedroom, Ky's secretive room. She held her chest and looked around. It wasn't long before she saw a red-eyed black wolf staring across at her from the other side of the bed. Only its head was resting on it.

_"Dizzy, you were dreaming. What were you dreaming of?"_

It wasn't a wolf. It was Gear-Ky.

She rubbed the back of her hand against her forehead and sat up. She drew the blanket closer and buried her nose against it a moment. It still held Ky's old scent. She missed his old scent.

"A man," she said, reminiscing. "And a place. I remember seeing rooms. The rooms looked like small lab. And there was a dark hallway with cells, like a prison has. It felt so real." She shook her head.

Gear-Ky then rose to his feet. _"Dizzy, I will show you where I have been. I want you to tell me if this is the place in your dreams. Now, just hope I can remember the way back."_

"You don't remember? Why's that?"

_"I was following you. I heard you. . .calling for me."_

* * *

They went by morning, which was only an hour's wait after Dizzy woke from her nightmare. Ky told her it would take at least two days of travel to get to their point of destination. She hoped he could remember the way clearly. The last thing she wanted happening was to get lost. Or run into humans. If they ever ran into any humans on the way— 

She stumbled over something and blindly grabbed for the Gear beside her. She managed to grab a fistful of his mane and save herself from falling into the ground.

Noticing her near close encounter with the ground, he stopped and snaked his head around. _"Are you alright?"_

She secured both feet on the ground and looked down where a cluster of moss had gotten tangled against her boot. She carefully stepped out of the trap, with some of the vegetation making a snapping sound as she pulled. She then looked up at Gear-Ky, passing him a light grin. "I'm fine, thank you. I'm beginning to wish I told the crew where we're going. They would have brought a plane—"

His lips wrinkled back in a light sneer. _"We walk, my dear. I walked through woods, hillsides and roads to find you. I will remember if I followed them again. Haven't you heard of instinct?"_

"Yes," she timidly said. "It's what keeps us alive. Like when bears hibernate and birds migrate to the south."

_"That's right,"_ he said into her mind, and began to turn his head away. _"Migrating birds."_

"But birds also fly," she said, trying to insist a little more. But it didn't go easily through to him. He pinned his ears and bared his teeth at her. She saw nearly every one of them. He snarled at her while he said at the same time, _"For God's sake, Dizzy!"_

Startled, she let go of him and drew back. She backed up until she was stopped by a tree behind her. As she watched him, the wrinkles on his muzzle faded, covering most of this teeth again, except for those four terrifying sabers. The snarling quieted. His eyes softened as much as they could, while his ears remained pinned, but in a guilty way.

_"Oh Dizzy, I'm sorry. . ."_

She bowed her head and said, "No, you're right. We can go now."

Gear-Ky came closer. He curled around her and the tree, with his head and neck sticking out beside her like a snake about to whisper her a secret. _"Dizzy, you will have to pardon my rage. We will go any way you want."_

He was only saying it to please her. She pushed his head away gently and said, "We'll walk."

If he were human, he would have looked at her in a bewildered way, perhaps his lips twisted and his brows cocked. He managed to give her that look even as a Gear.

He stared at her long before he moved out from behind the tree and without much warning, slid his head between her legs at the knees and lifted. She lost her balance as he did this and gasped, prepared to hit the ground.

Was this his way of getting back at her for being a pain?

She grabbed for his mane again while the earth from under her moved. She slid down his neck until his shoulders stopped her. Her hands that held desperately onto his thick red mane saved her from falling off.

She looked around herself and on the ground below her. She was sitting on him like a strange and new type of steed.

After she was settled, he turned his head over to her and sent out, _"Let's go."_

And off they went. A strange pair, a strange quest.

* * *

_"Kill it. Kill it. You've got to kill it."_

A few days before, Officer Ky Kiske sat behind his desk (God awful thing), swamped in paperwork, trying reorganize things now that some were done or needed his attention. There were handwritten police reports set in is own words, other police reports, meeting reminders, letters from officials—

One officer slid into the room rushed for him. He barely noticed his arrival until he was at his side. When he began to pick his head up, the man grabbed him by the arm, squeezing his bicept.

"Sir, sir," the man said, shaking the arm he had taken. He was a tall brown-haired man, near Ky's height. He looked a few years older than him, possibly in this thirties. "Something came through the transmitter. It sounds urgent!"

Ky yanked his arm free. "What is it?" he asked calmly. He rubbed his sleeve where the man had grabbed him.

"It's a distress call. It came in a few minutes ago. Someone's under attack I think. We heard the word Gear."

Ky felt electricity run across his skin and his brows rose at that word.

"It's hard to hear," the man continued, "but you ought to come." He took Ky's arm again and pulled him to his feet, then bolted for the door. Ky stumbled at least two steps before he gained his balance and pulled himself free.

He followed him out the door and into the hallway. They wove their way down the corridors, with Ky nearly colliding into another officer. Thank God he was quick-footed.

The brown-haired officer lead him down a spiraling staircase. He leapt a few steps while they went down, down, down—until the man lead him to a door that read: Technical Team. The area where it was located looked more like an old garage. The floor was concrete.

The man who lead him here was panting by the time he went into the room. A small crowd inside turned their heads once Ky walked into the room. The room was eerily silent, but then:

_"Come here and kill it. If I move, it'll kill me. I need to stay right here. It's killing, just killing."_

He listened to the disembodied voice. He wasn't sure if it was male of female. It was drawn down to a whisper. It was the voice of the dying.

_"I can hear it. It's coming closer."_

Then, the small crowd parted, revealing a slender blonde boy sitting in front of a machine with headphones over his ears even though the sound was heard throughout the room. He wore gold-framed glasses. He was near Ky's age, perhaps a year or two younger.

"I can get communication with the caller," he said. "I'm receiving but I can't send anything. I don't understand. It's like all incoming frequencies are blocked. They haven't even told me where they are—"

The transmitter crackled. _"It's in the room. It's all our fault. We should have left well alone. They did this. They opened a closed book."_ There was static for a few seconds before the voice began screaming. "_GO AWAY! GO AWAY!"_

The room went silent except the soft hum of the machines and computers and uneasy murmurs of the other officers.

After a moment, Ky looked around himself, watching a few pale and shocked faces before he looked at Chris, who was fiddling with the transmitter in front of him. But his attempts were pointless.

"Chris," Ky said, "Can you get communication back?"

"No, that's what I said. They called us. Everything was incoming."

Ky stared at him. "Find the original location. Please."

"I'll try," Chris whispered.

The room remained silent except for the ghostly static emitting from the transmitter.


	19. By Moonlight

The sky faded into colors of blue, orange and red against the dusk that enveloped the world above them. The sky and the patch of woods behind them was set ablaze, but that wasn't the only thing ablaze. They stood at the crest of a rocky hill, looking down on a clearing below, and roosting in the middle of that stony clearing was a building. It was burning. Smoke was billowing from it. 

"Ky, this is it. This is it, isn't it?"

The Gear beside her stared at the building and snarled to himself. His mouth was gaped. _"They're covering their tracks. Someone's alive."_

"What?"

_"Someone set it on fire. This is it, Dizzy."_

"It is!" she cried victoriously. She stepped closer to the edge of the hill, but when she did, the ground under her crumbled like sand. It seemed to grab her boot and pull her down. She went tumbling. Stones went down with her. She tried to grab the surface, but only wound up with handfuls of stones and dirt. She slid down the slope until she stopped at the bottom.

She sat on the ground while she stared at the lone building across from her. She listened to a few loose stones roll down, then the crashing of them as Gear-Ky raced down the slope after her. His descent was much easier.

_"Dizzy! Dizzy, are you alright?"_ he called urgently, then landed beside her in one leap. Dust, dirt and pebbles rolled to the base of the slope he had kicked up.

"I'm fine," she said.

_"Alright? You just—"_

She stood as he looked at her anxiously. There were no broken limbs, no gaping, bleeding wounds, no scratches, just an ache here and there. "See?" She dusted herself off and gave her tail a flick before she turned to the burning building in the distance. The smoke was thick in the air and darkened the windows. She found herself staring at it. It looked different this way as its core burned on the inside, but it was still the building she dreamed of; she was sure of it, distorted as it were.

She began to spread her arms out from her sides, her palms out towards it, as if she were welcoming it like a worshiper. She then dropped her arms and looked at the Gear near her. "Ky, what is this place?"

A low growl rumbled in his throat. He didn't take his eyes off it. _"Where it all happened. I remember now. It's come back. Not everything, but it's there. I wonder if. . ."_

"I wonder if anyone's still here," Dizzy said automatically, then stepped forward, towards the heat and smoke. She walked up to it, then stopped. She watched it burn. She watched the black smoke billow behind the glass windows like demons. She watched the white walls turn black.

White walls.

"This is it," she whispered. "Strange dream. I dreamed of—" She paused as Gear-Ky limped beside her and growled at the burning building as if it were a threat to them. She noticed his limp had gotten worse now. The past few days of travel wasn't helping the wound, yet he still pushed on. "Ky, I dreamed of a place I never been to and it was real. How?"

Gear-Ky was silent for a long time and stared at her deeply. She didn't look away. Those eyes seemed hypnotizing against the reflection of the flames. But then, she couldn't see those eyes anymore. She couldn't see him. Instead, she found herself standing somewhere else. There was no burning building, no hill, no fiery sunset.

She looked around furiously and saw quaint houses standing side by side. All the lights were out. The only light source she had was the full moon above her. She stood in the dark belly of a sleeping village.

But how did she get there? And where was Ky?

She quickly picked her head up when she noticed a dark rider upon a dark horse moving towards her. She tensed and watched him come closer, but then relaxed when he came closer. It was Ky. He was human and dressed in his uniform. And the horse—

The horse wasn't Nora. It was a big black war horse. There was a strange decoration on its head like some Knights used to protect their mounts during battle. This face plate had horns that curved back like a ram's and a symbol positioned at the forehead.

She soon realized it was no face plate at all. The horns were real, and the mark she saw was a Gear mark.

She gasped and looked up at the rider upon the strange horse. She almost expected to see an oddity about him, too, but she saw no such thing. It was just Ky, handsomely dressed in that black and gold uniform. His eyes were eager and his face somehow looked younger.

"Ky?"

He raised a hand and playfully saluted her. "Your orders?"

She looked at him, confused. "What?"

"Dizzy, we need your orders," he said. "I need your orders. I can always play the decoy as usual."

She just shook her head and stared at him. She said nothing.

He sighed before he leaned forward and spoke something in French between the Gear-horse's ears. It then turned, with Ky only holding a single fistful of its mane, the other hand holding his sword at his side, and walked back to where they had come from.

"K-Ky?"

She was left alone in the streets. She stood there quietly, her arms crossed under her breasts like she were trying to warm herself, but she felt no cold or wind in the air. The village was bedded down like it was ready for it, though. No one was outside. She thought for a moment that maybe it was abandoned. But why?

She suddenly jolted at the sharp sound of a bell in the distance. It was not the soothing and melodic chime of a church bell but a frantic and alarming sound. She listened to it curiously, and only when did it sound, the sleeping village began to stir. Lights flicked on, shadows and bodies moved about. She even heard a woman scream.

She looked up, and down the street she saw the reason behind the scream. Down the path, a parade of Gears marched towards her, and Ky was leading them. Dizzy couldn't count how many there were—thirty, maybe twenty. Many of them varied, but all of them were bigger than her and Ky.

He pulled the Gear-horse to a stop in front of her, with the small army following his example. They stopped at a respectful distance behind him, shifting, growling. All of their eyes were on her. Ky looked over his shoulder at the band as they grew restless. He raised a hand and bounced it as he spoke in French to them. Ky had taught her some French, but she didn't understand what he said this time.

The horde then began to calm. Only a few fidgeted.

She then looked up at him. "What did you say?"

"Nothing," he said and shook his head. He raised his hand again, higher this time and twirled it, his wrist rolling loosely. His index finger was pointed to the dark sky.

At the signal, the Gears bellowed roars and growls like a crowd shouting a war cry. They parted and spread into the village, some going in pairs or groups. She watched one leap through a window and into a house.

The village woke to the raiding Gears. There was screaming. People were running.

Dizzy gasped and placed her hands over her mouth as she watched this. She couldn't tear her eyes away, but after a while, she did. Her mind played what was happening backwards, up until the start where Ky twirled his finger in the air. She realized it wasn't just a gesture, it was a command.

She looked up at him. "Ky?"

"Yes, Dizzy?" he asked in a whisper.

"You. . .you did this?"

He turned his head to her but said nothing.

"Why?"

He continued to stare at her mutely. When there was beauty and strength in his eyes, there was murder. She didn't like this change in Ky, even if he was back to his old self.

He then finally said: "I'm sorry I had to show you this. I just had to prove something to you—"

Then, a loud bang erupted nearby, followed by a sudden heat and light. She turned her head to see a building on fire, with burning debris beginning to catch the others around it.

It burned fast. The flames were hot and hungry, destroying anything in its path to ease its hunger until the village began to glow. She watched as a building at the edge of the street she and Ky were standing on spewed smoke out of its windows.

_"Dizzy."_

The flames ate away at the building's foundation until it could no longer hold itself up. And like cutting off the legs of a giant, it collapsed. It sent charred wood, debris and wood tumbling towards them.

_"Dizzy!"_

She fell backwards. She saw a spiraling blackness at first, then the bright orange and red glow of the flames around her. She stared at it as she sat upright on the ground.

_"Dizzy!"_

Ky. Ky was calling her.

She heard someone approaching her from behind. She turned her head, but it wasn't Ky, it was an older white-haired man standing over her with a burning piece of wood raised over his head like a club. And he was about to bring it down on her.

She screamed and tried to move, but it felt like her body was stuck in thick mud that held her relentlessly down. She struggled but it was no use. Her body refused to move as if she no longer had control over it. Undine and Necro wouldn't even protect her.

"KY!" she screamed, then closed her eyes before the man could strike her.

But it never came.

She opened her eyes to see the white-haired man standing over her with his hands outstretched and his fingers splayed. He laughed manically like a storybook monster. He was dressed in a white and gray military outfit, which gave him a human quality, although he looked like he was about to pounce on her. A monster in a man's body.

She then caught a dark shadow fly out from the corner of her eye, with it nearly clipping her as it went by. It went straight for the white-haired man, and it was Ky. Gear-Ky. He latched himself onto the man's arm like an attack dog, and she had a front row seat to the action. She was so close she could hear the man's arm break.

His arm came apart in the Gear's mouth. It happened so fast, so smoothly, Gear-Ky simply bit down and pulled away. The limb hung dead in his mouth while the man screamed, left with a bloody stump. It began to stain his pale outfit. The majority of his sleeve was gone.

He continued to scream. Gear-Ky stared at him with the limb between his jaws and growled. He seemed to dare him, _Come and get it._

Dizzy watched it all. Her mouth hung agape with a choking sound in her throat. Her lips quivered but no words would come out, just that strangled wail.

She couldn't move. She couldn't scream. She couldn't tell him to stop. She felt like a statue, left on her hands and knees and forced to take in what was before her.

Then the statue began to cry. The tears came in great heaves until she could barely breathe.

_Let it be a dream,_ she said to herself. _Let it be a dream, too._

* * *

The twigs and branches grabbed at him, pulling at his sleeves and scratched at his face like a wild crowd. He shoved them back and kept moving nonetheless. Neither the cold, evil creatures, or branches could stop him. This was nothing compared to his past with the Crusades. 

He was close. He knew it. His travels would be over soon.

_Kill it. Kill it._

That voice continued to haunt his mind since the day he heard it. It was a reminder each time he closed his eyes and dreamed, finding its way past the victims of the Gears. At least this one came to him only as a voice, not a mutilated body. He hoped it wouldn't become another victim.

He followed the scent and the blackness of the smoke that reached up to the full moon. It was what lead him here, to the end of his hunt.

_Dear God, they're burning the bodies! The Gears are burning their bodies!_

But this smoke didn't smell like burning flesh. Something else was burning. Someone was trying to get attention. It wasn't an accidental fire.

He suddenly halted and listened. Something was moving through the woods. Slow. Lumbering. He heard it stumble once, rustling up the passive leaves underneath its feet.

It wasn't a Gear. It didn't sound like a Gear.

He turned his head and saw a pale body moving at his side through the trees towards him. The ex-Knight held steady, spreading his feet and gripped the handle of his sword firmly. He watched the pale _thing_ until it came out from the trees and into clearer view.

It was a man. They both stood on edge when they saw each other. They must have stared at each other for a good few moments as if they were the last of humanity, finding their meeting a pleasant shock.

The man was wearing a dirty white and gray military issue uniform, but he couldn't quite place the origin. There were metals gleaming off the moonlight on the breast of his tunic. His hair was white like the uniform. He must have been somewhere in his early sixties.

And then he saw it. His arm was missing. The sleeve—or what was left of it—was torn off and stained in blood. But the man barely seemed to notice it. Shock perhaps.

The man smiled at him and said, "Commander Ky Kiske. An honor to see you."

The young officer looked at him, still stunned. "Wh-who. . ."

The man waved his bloody and only hand. "It doesn't matter who I am, if that's what you're trying to get at. But I wasn't expecting you. How did you know to come here?"

"The IPF received a distress call about a Gear. Is it still here?"

The man frowned. "I didn't call you. But yes, it is."

He pointed towards the smoke rising into the air. "Is that why—"

The man looked down on the bloody stump, ignoring what he was trying to say and supported it. "It got me. It got me twice. First my leg, now my arm. Next time, it might get my head."

"No, it won't. I'll make sure of it."

The man turned his attention back on the young blonde and grinned after his eyes found the sight of the bright blade in his right hand. He grinned. "You want it, don't you? It's back there, down the base of the hill. You'll see it when you get closer to the building, that is if it hasn't followed me yet. Take its head off. A dragon won't bite if you take its head off."

Ky nodded. "Thank you. Stay here. I'll be back." He then dashed past the man, his long legs carrying him fast to the edge of the woods and to the crest of the hill the man had talked about. When he looked down, he was able to see the source of the smoke that had lead him. It was coming from a lone building in the clearing below. It was in a wild blaze. He narrowed his eyes and saw figures near the burning building. One looked human and the other—

It was the Gear! It was facing the poor soul, the Gear's head nearly touching theirs. He could see the figure's arms around the Gear's neck, trying to push it off or keep it from going any further.

Dear God! The man had never told him there was another survivor!

Ky flew down the face of the hill and went sliding down it once he found it would not support him. He slid down a few feet like a surfer then after judging his balance, he sprang down it until he reached the bottom. He quickly regained himself and sprinted for the Gear and survivor like a predator racing for its prey.

The air got hotter, the smoke thicker the closer he got, but he never took his eyes off his target: the Gear. It was smaller than most Gears. The smaller ones were normally faster, that meant he had to take it by surprise.

"Get away!" he screamed and raised Furaiken over his head. His muscles tensed. His blood became electrified.

When the Gear pulled away from the survivor and looked at him, Ky brought the blade down. He felt it cut through its muscle and flesh, and heard the vertebrae sever in a clean thunk. It went straight through from behind the skull.

The body and head collapsed in two pieces. The head looked like a wolf—if he was able to cut off the huge teeth that arched out of its mouth, gouged out the red eyes from its sockets and distorted the Gear mark on its forehead. It would look like some sort of mutation.

The two halves laid spilling blood onto the ground while the survivor, a woman in a black cloak, screamed in hysterics. She screamed loud—and she was screaming his name. He turned his head and once he saw who it was, his eyes widened. He had been so focused on the black Gear, he didn't have time to notice the cobalt-haired hybrid. He didn't notice her until the deed was done.

She continued to cry and scream hysterically. He could barely make out a word she said. He looked at the body of the Gear, then back at Dizzy.

"Dizzy, I had no—"

She slapped him. His head jerked and was left with a red mark that would stay with him at least two days. He raised a hand and placed his exposed fingers against the hot spot on his cheek. She stood in front him with her face soaked in tears, screaming, scolding him and crying.

When he tried to speak rationally to her, she shoved him aside and went over to the body of the decapitated Gear. Once she got a good look at it, she screamed and covered her eyes. It wasn't long before she took off running.

He watched her go but made no attempt to go chasing after her. When she was gone, Ky Kiske stood up and looked down on the dead Gear. It would not be coming back.

With a sigh, he dusted his soiled uniform off and trekked back up the hill, which wasn't as easy as going down. He went sliding a few times before he clawed and climbed his way back up to the patch of woods. There, he found the man in white dead, sitting against a tree, his head bowed.

He stared a moment before he knelt in front of him. He slowly tilted his head back to check his vitals. He paused when he saw the handle of a knife sticking out from the center of his neck. Ky drew his hand away and cast his eyes down to the ground.

"He killed himself," he whispered.

* * *

The Black Forest welcomed her back in an eerie white silence as if it already knew of the horrible news. There was no use to explain, not with his blood dried on her hands, but when she finally returned to the Jellyfish Pirates, she had to force herself. His violent and gruesome death still went over and over in her mind. 

"And his head was in my hands!" she cried like it was a punchline. The girls stood around her as if she were some sort of preacher, standing in awe and then horror. Some covered their mouths and others gasped. "After I saw it, I-I threw it to the ground." She looked at the palms of her hands the way she looked at them after she had thrown the head. The blood was still there, some of it cracked and faded away over the days that took her to return to the crew. She then drew them back to her sides and continued. "I was so angry and scared. I started screaming. B-but the officer who did it, he didn't say he was sorry for it." She wiped at her face, staining her cheek more. "I don't think he was sorry. I-I hate him for what he did. I hate him!"

"Dizzy," Johnny's voice said from within the crowd. "Don't say that."

"I can't," she said and took another swipe at her eye. "He killed Ky. And I think he loved me."

The End.


End file.
